


On Your Mark

by DriftingAlongTheWind



Series: Tales of the Miraculous [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Canon Divergent, Sequel, have another fic, here you go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-07 16:10:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13438413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DriftingAlongTheWind/pseuds/DriftingAlongTheWind
Summary: Hawkmoth has been taken down for good. But, in the aftermath, he had revealed his final plan. Now, Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee must fight against a new foe: A group of Miraculous Hunters. Meanwhile, Adrien and Marinette find themselves in a relationship. How will that change their dynamic?





	1. New beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> WWWWOOOOOOO!!!!!!! HERE WE GO!!!! We are officially into the next step of this story!!!! I will try to keep updates consistant, but things might not work out like that, so bear with me if I fall behind. I hope you enjoy this new story!!!!

Marinette walked into the Agreste dining room, which was already occupied by Chloe Bourgeois, Alya Cesaire, Nino Lahiffe, and Gabriel Agreste. Following her was Adrien Agreste, her, well, boyfriend. However, this meeting was more than just a simple get-together of friends. They were also Queen Bee, wielder of the bee comb Miraculous, Rena Rouge wielder of the fox pendant Miraculous, Carapace, wielder of the turtle bracelet Miraculous, and Paon, former wielder of the peacock brooch Miraculous, respectively. 

Marinette was also Ladybug, wielder of the ladybug earring Miraculous, and Adrien was Chat Noir, wielder of the cat ring Miraculous. They were not the oldest superheroes in the room, that honor went to Gabriel, Adriens’ father. However, they were the most experienced at fighting supervillains. They had actually taken Hawkmoth down not too long ago, in fact.

“Thank you two for joining us.” Gabriel started the meeting off like a business meeting, and Marinette felt Adrien slump slightly. Apparently, this was a common theme around here. “As you should all know, Hawkmoth has taken actions which is leading a group of Miraculous users to Paris.” A screen came down in front of the table. So, this was not the first time this room had been used for meetings. “They are known as the “Hunters.”

“That’s pretty on the nose, dude.” Nino spoke up from where he was leaning onto Alya.

“Yes. Indeed. They usually consist of five different individuals, the members and active Miraculous shifting around. They don’t stay around for many jobs, in order to keep away from the corruptions they fight against. Luckily, the active group right now are very seasoned.”

“Wait, luckily? That means that they know a lot more than us, right?” Chloe spoke from the head of the table opposite Gabriel.

“Yes, but that can be overcome. What this means is that someone who has been keeping an eye on these things can find out the information needed. Which is what I have been doing for the last several months.” Gabriel pulled out a remote from seemingly nowhere. Adrien tapped Marinette’s shoulder, and pointed to his sleeve, then to his pocket. Marinette smiled at him, shushing him as she turned back to the front. She kept an eye on what Gabriel did, and noticed that he seemed to enjoy his sleight of hand. If what Adrien was saying was true, he even had pockets in his sleeves for the remote. It made sense. Things like that made the other members know that they would never be as good as Gabriel Agreste, head of a fashion empire. 

The screen was illuminated by a projector above Chloe, and it displayed five black squares. One of them turned into the picture of a man in a… well, it was… the nicest way to explain it was colorful. “This is Tails. He wears the lemur watch Miraculous. He seems to be very simple powers-wise. He is extremely capable at climbing and jumping, with a weapon being a lasso. We don’t know what his special power is, yet.”

The TV switched to the picture of a woman in a tan outfit, similar to the Ladybug outfit Marinette wore when transformed. This outfit had brown rings on it, as opposed to the black spots that Marinette had. “This is Ocelot. She is very similar to Chat Noir in regards to feline abilities, but she does not have a weapon, other than her claws. Her special power is to move at extremely fast speeds, but it only lasts for one minute. These Miraculous are not quite as powerful as yours. However, they are more experienced.”

The TV switched to a dark-skinned man wearing what seemed to be an extremely puffy fur coat. “This is Grizzly. He wields-”

“Let me guess. The bear something Miraculous.” Adrien interrupted. Gabriel rolled his eyes, but didn’t look surprised. 

“Yes. The bear pin. He is extremely strong, and has a club as a weapon. His special power is the ability to go into a “rage” state, where he is more irrational, but much harder to take down.”

Again, the TV switched. The next one was a woman wearing a helmet with a beak-like apparatus on it. “This is Longclaw. She wields the eagle necklace Miraculous. She mainly uses a sword, but seems to never want to actually cut anyone with it. She has used it defensively, or to cut part of the environment. But what truly sets her apart are these.” Gabriel pointed to a part of the costume that drew Marinettes’ attention more than any other part of the ensemble. The wings. “She can use these to glide, and she can also use her special power to fly for a short time.”

The TV switched to the final Hunter. A smartphone picture of a woman in a gray outfit, similar to Rena Rouge, but more rugged. “This is alpha, the leader of the Hunters. She wields the wolf ring, and uses a dagger. Unlike Longclaw, Alpha is known to use it against her opponents, but has never killed with it. Her special ability is to rally her forces and make them more formidable.”

Alya raised an eyebrow. “Her name is Alpha? She seems rather full of herself.”

“Yeah. But, if you put these people together, weird names and powers aside, they pose quite a threat. Look at them, they have a leader, a scout, a brawler, a fighter, and someone who can get around easily. We have a leader, a fighter, the defense, a trickster, and we haven’t actually seen you transformed, Chloe.”

Chloe looked at everyone. “I can show you later. But, my weapon is a thin sword.”

“Rapier.” Both the Agreste men said in unison.

“Yes, that. I’d be better as offensive, I think.”

“Either way, our team is better at getting out of fights, rather than winning them. We are imbalanced to the defensive side.” Adrien looked around. “Marinette has a yo-yo, Nino has a shield, and Alya has a flute. The only two fighters have a sword and a stick. They have a sword, a dagger, and a club. Their defensive options are to be great at offense.”

Everyone fell silent. Marinette couldn’t help but to feel a little bit of cynicism. If Adrien was being serious about this, what hope did the rest of them have? However, there was a silver lining. “Actually, Adrien, we might be thinking about this all wrong. Think about it. Longclaw seems to be reconnaissance, and Alpha won’t be doing a ton of fighting. That leaves Grizzly to be the main muscle. Tails doesn’t have any offensive advantage, and Ocelot is extremely close range. I had to be half the team for several months, so I am used to leading from the front. Adrien is extremely good with both claws and staff. Nino has used his shield offensively to great effect. Alya, to be frank, you probably won’t be doing a ton of fighting yourself. But, your illusions will be very handy to have. But, you should probably pick up some fighting tips. Chloe, you will have to learn on your feet, but that’s how we all did it. I have no doubt that you will pick it up easily.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at her words. “Yes, I think that Ms. Dupain-Cheng is correct. You have the advantage of adaptability. They have a strict structure, while you can change to suit the situation. I will send each of you some videos of their fighting for you to look over.”

They discussed various items of interest, but the main meeting had ended. They set up training times for everyone in the extensive Agreste gym, a different building for the personal use of the Agreste family. Nobody had batted an eye when Gabriel had built it to be massive. They all assumed that it was just him flaunting his money. Now, though, the five of them knew what it was for. 

Marinette walked out of the door with Adrien after the meeting had ended. “Where’s the kwamis?”

Adrien pointed “The kitchens. They were grabbing something to eat while they talked with each other.”

Everyone made their way to the kitchen and saw the seven kwamis sitting on the table, eating their various favorite foods. Tikki, with a cookie in her mouth was Marinettes’ kwami. Plagg, sitting on several empty containers of Camembert cheese, was Adriens’. There was also Wayzz, Ninos’, who had a cracker in his hand. Trixx, Alyas’, had a cherry. Pollen, contrary to expectations, had a pretzel. She was Chloes’. The other two, Duusuu and Nooroo, had chips and celery, respectively. Duusuu used to be Gabriels’, but during the fight with Hawkmoth, Duusu had been forced to reject Gabriel and go dormant. Gabriel had managed to wake him, but had decided against putting the brooch on again. Nooroo used to belong to Hawkmoth, but Gabriel had taken the Butterfly brooch before Hawkmoth was turned in.

Everyone collected their kwamis, promising that they would all get to see each other again soon. Marinette and Adrien had to stay behind, since Marinette had brought her parents over to speak with Gabriel, and Adrien sorta lived there. Gabriel ushered Tom and Sabine into his office, and Marinette followed Adrien into his room. 

“So… Um… Do you want to go on a date sometime?” Adrien asked, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Marinette laughed. “That’s seriously the best you have? Come on, Chat Noir. I know you have better than that.”

Adrien grinned. “Well, if you want to phrase it like that.” He looked into Marinettes’ eyes, getting closer. “Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me, My Lady?” He ended with his face mere inches from her own. Marinette could barely breath. Adrien stepped back, and took a small bow, holding his hand forward. Marinette grinned and took the hand. 

“Of course. I would love to go on a date with the leather clad playboy of Paris.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Leather clad playboy? I seem to remember a certain person who goes around Paris in a skintight red spandex.”

Marinette gave him a smirk, turning away from him to go to the couch. “Yes, but I don’t have a tail. Or ears.”

Marinette heard a sputtering sound from behind her as Adrien tried to come up with another comeback. “W-well… I… you… yeah, I got nothing.”

Marinette sat on the couch, and Adrien sat next to her. They watched TV for a while, Marinette cuddling into Adrien, until her parents called for her. Adrien walked her to the foyer, Gabriel settling a hand on Adriens’ shoulder. Adrien was obviously flustered by the gesture, but he didn’t push the hand off. This seemed to relax Gabriel slightly.

Marinette waved to Adrien, which seemed to be rather lackluster compared to the kiss they had shared earlier, but Adrien waved back anyways. She smiled a thanks to Gabriel, who nodded in return. Then, Marinette let her parents herd her out the door and back to their house.

**Adrien**

Adrien was not actually uncomfortable with the hand on his shoulder. In fact, he welcomed the gesture. It proved that his father really did care about him. In fact, Gabriel did not let go of his shoulder as he started walking towards his office. 

“Adrien, I am sorry that I have been distant for a while. I… well, I was not taking the disappearance of your mother very well. By the time I was ready to become your father again, you were Chat Noir, and I thought that remaining out of your way would be best. However, that was not the correct thing to do, as your father, and as the person who could have helped you against Hawkmoth. However, I would like to make it up to you.”

Adrien looked at him in shock. That was probably the most he had heard his father speak to him in years. Since his mother vanished. “Pere, I...”

“I do have to go back to work, though. I took more time off than I should have.” Adrien felt a pit form in his stomach. This is how it started last time, as well. “I would like you to join me, however. It will be a good opportunity for you to learn how to run a business, rather than just be the front image. It will also… be a good opportunity for us to… bond.”

Adrien was back at looking at his father in surprise. “O-of course, Pere.”

Gabriel led Adrien into his office, and set a chair down next to his own, showing him the various charts and statistics required to run an empire as large as the “Agreste” Company. And, the smile never left Adriens’ face.


	2. Training Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Miraculous finds themselves in a training session. It's got swords and shields and stuff like that. What is Gabriel planning for them? Will the team manage to succeed on their first training day with a veteran hero? Will Plagg eat cheese in this chapter? The only way to find out is just below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to the story!!!! I got another chapter for you!!! Hope you enjoy!

Alya sat in her room, tapping a pencil to her lower lip. She was at her computer, and was thinking about what to write for the Ladyblog. She didn’t need the pencil, of course, since she was about to type, but it helped her organize her thoughts, since she used to do this on paper rather than on the computer. 

Alya started to type out the post about the future of the team, giving a completely inaccurate representation of what will be happening. Alya was not supposed to know what Rena Rouge knew. So, she typed that the team would patrol the city and stop crimes, just like they normally would on days without akumas. 

Alya was writing for a while, typing then retyping what she had written until it was good enough to post. Then, she looked at the time. It was way past when she should have left to meet up with everyone for training. She didn’t even know how she was going to go to the gym!!!

Alya grabbed up some cherries and gave them to Trixx, who ate them eagerly. “We have to go now, Trixx!! Ears up!!”

A few moments later, Rena Rouge left out of the window, giving herself the guise of a pigeon flying away. That was something that came in handy: the ability to change what she looked like. Changing her size was risky, and did not do well under close inspection, but it did do well for her purposes. 

Alya bounded across the rooftops, while looking at the end of her flute, which opened to reveal a map of Paris, with a clump of icons showing that everyone was already at the gym. At least she knew where it was, now.

Except, there was something missing. There was no bee icon. Was Chloe late too?

Alya arrived at the door and entered stealthily. She figured that if she was late, she could try to impress everyone by sneaking in without being seen. She peeked into the main room of the gym and saw Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Carapace standing in front of Gabriel Agreste. Alya still wasn’t over the fact that he was Bluebird. 

However, this also made it pretty difficult to sneak in. But, Alya had a great idea. She created a copy of herself, and sent it into the gym to stand next to the other heroes. She then snuck into the door behind Gabriel, immediately making a shushing noise with her finger to keep everyone else quiet. She walked quietly behind Gabriel, then stood in a rough appropriation of Gabriel, with her back straight and her hands behind her back. 

Gabriel was talking about what they were going to do in the gym that day. “You will try to sneak up to where I will be sitting without me seeing you. If even one person manages to sneak up on me, you win. Use teamwork to determine how you will do it.”

Everyone seemed to be trying to hold in laughter, and Alya got another idea. She transformed herself into Gabriel Agreste, and started to dramatically point in the directions that Gabriel gestured to. Everyone was now having massive issues holding in their laughter. Adrien had a small smile, Marinette had her neck muscles standing out, and Nino had bunched his mouth into a line, staring straight forward.

“What are you all doing?” Gabriel was about to turn around when the door opened. Chloe looked in, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

“What the hell?”

**Chloe**

Chloe stood in the doorway, looking at the scene. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Carapace were all looking at her, looking very relieved to see her for some reason. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, and Gabriel looked at her with an arm raised. Wait, two Gabriels? 

Chloe raised an eyebrow and pulled open her purse, releasing Pollen. 

“You know, I think that we should have transformed, Chloe. Everyone else is.”

“I just wanted to practice moving around the city without a costume on. We can transform now, though.” Chloe gave Pollen a pretzel, and called forth the transformation. “Stinger out!!”

With a flash of yellow light, Chloe turned into Queen Bee. Everyone looked at her, and she brandished her sword. It was thin and long, and extremely sharp. 

“Thank you for joining us, Ms. Bourgeois. I will leave the rest of the team to explain the test to you.” Gabriel turned and started moving towards a door. 

Rena whispered something into Chats’ ear and dashed off, leaving behind the image of herself, which walked to the center of the floor and gestured to everyone to join her. The real Rena Rouge turned into a pigeon and ran after Gabriel. Above the pigeon was a shimmer in the shape of Rena, similar to a mirage in a desert. It slipped in before the door closed. Everyone gathered up, making a huddle. Chat looked at Chloe.

“We are supposed to sneak up to Gabriel without him seeing us and bring back an item up there. We just need to get one person up there. However, Alya already came up with a plan. She is following Pere up to wherever he is going and she will win this one for us. She didn’t have the time to run this by us, so she asked me to explain it.”

Chloe looked at ladybug, expecting her to object, since they looked to her for leadership. Ladybug looked back. “What? Do you expect me to be against this? I think that this is a great plan. I get why she didn’t tell us.”

Chloe nodded. “I understand. So, what do we do?”

Nino gave a half smile. “I think that we should run interference. Let’s get into an argument. Chloe, you should start it. No offense, but-”

“Yes, I understand. I would start the argument. I think that we should make it about who should go up to Gabriel. I’ll say that I should.”

Ladybug winked. “I think that it should be Chat. He is the stealthiest out of all of us.”

“Whoa, bro. What about Alya? She is pretty sneaky as well.”

“No, I think that Chat is best suited.” Ladybug crossed her arms.

“NO!! I should go!! I can sneak pretty well. How am I supposed to prove myself if I can’t do things like this?” Chloe stepped up to Ladybug like she used to with Marinette.

Adrien stepped in between them, pushing them apart. “Hey, let’s try to do this nicely.”

Nino stepped up across from Adrien. “Let’s just go with Alya. She could sneak up without being seen, and she could use her illusions to great effect.”

Chloe gestured up to the place where Gabriel was. It was a glass viewing area where the manager of the gym could watch the goings on. Gabriel stood, watching them. Alya stood just behind him, her arms crossed, a look of amusement on her face. She raised an arm, holding up the peacock miraculous. 

“Do you think that Chat could go up there with how loud he usually is?” 

Ladybug raised a hand. “I think that we can end this. Rena?”

The Rena standing in the gym burst into orange mist and the door opened. “You know, that was pretty convincing. I was pretty sure that I would get to see Ladybug fight Queen Bee.”

There was a crack of static from the speakers and Gabriels’ voice came through the speaker system. “Good job, everyone. You are obviously good at teamwork and playing to everyones’ strengths. Now, I would like to switch gears. This gym was built as a training room for Hawkmoth and I when we were still heroes. Now, it is for you. So, don’t hold back. I want everyone to team up. I will put on the Peacock Miraculous again and fight Ladybug. Rena, you shall fight Carapace. Chat, you will fight Bee.”

Everyone teamed up with each other, eyeing each other up. Chloe knew that she was not going to win this one. Chat Noir was much more experienced than she was. She hefted her sword and waited for Chat to attack. 

“I will go easy and try to teach you some moves.” Chat held his baton, now at a sword length, in a ready position. Chloe tried to mimic it, but it felt off. 

“Ready?” Gabriel walked forward, wearing a blue suit, with a long green tail section on it. “Let’s begin.” He pulled out two fans and attacked Ladybug. 

Chloe blocked Chats’ first attack, and tried swinging at him. It didn’t work, and Chat managed to tap his baton against her side. Just like that, the fight was over. 

“Damn it. I guess that I have a lot to learn about fighting with a sword.” Chloe frowned while Chat smiled at her. They watched as Alya managed to trick Nino and ended up behind him, tapping her flute against his head. They looked over at the fight between Gabriel and Ladybug. If Chloe was being honest, she figured that this was going to be another short fight. Gabriel was the more experienced fighter, so Chloe figured that he would win quickly. 

This was not the case. They instead fought hard. Gabriel swung at Ladybug with his fans, and she dodged them with grace, and threw her yo-yo at him. He would block it, and make an attack of his own. 

Then, something changed. Ladybug jumped, and did a flip over Gabriels’ fan. When she went to land, Gabriel threw a fan, throwing Ladybug off balance. She landed on her back, and Gabriel went in for the final hit. This fight had escalated, and Gabriel would probably expect that Ladybug would be able to block. However, Ladybug seemed to be dazed from the unexpected fall. This attack would land. Hard. 

There was a growl, and Chat leapt forward. He smacked Gabriels’ hand away, and crouched in front of Ladybug until she was on her feet. Gabriel pointed to Chloe and Carapace, then gestured towards himself. They walked forward and stopped next to him, facing Ladybug and Chat Noir. Rena Rouge darted to their side, and the two sides faced each other for a few seconds. Then, the two sides charged. Chat took Gabriel on, Ladybug took Carapace, and Chloe rushed Rena. 

The fight was brutal. Rena and Chloe were evenly matched in skills with their respective weapons, and even though Rena could create illusions, Chloe had some sort of sense to figure out which one was real. So, they fought for several minutes, swinging sword against indestructible flute. Then, Rena managed to get Chloe in a grab and twisted, knocking Chloe to the ground. Rena raised her flute to tap Chloe, but a shape flew over her. Nino hit her with his shield, and Chloe saw that Ladybug was on the ground, but getting back up. 

Chloe acted on instinct, and flipped herself backwards over her head and turned around, facing Ladybug, holding her sword in front of her. However, that fight didn’t last very long. Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around the sword and yanked it out of Chloes’ hands. Then, tapped her fist against Chloe. After that, she tapped Nino in the back. Then, she turned to help Chat, but he held up a hand. 

He and Gabriel were in a fierce battle, fast paced and brutal. Gabriel used both of his fans at once, forcing Chat to be on the defensive. Chat had a determined look on his face, fighting Gabriel off as much as he could. Ladybug rolled her eyes. 

“Damn it, Chat.” Then, she rushed forward and tapped her yo-yo against Gabriels’ head. Gabriel let go of Chat, and stepped back. 

“Good job, Ladybug. My son’s desire to prove himself would have probably been his downfall.” Gabriel held out a hand to help Chat up. “Sorry, but it is true.”

Chat stood, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, that’s probably correct.”

They all stood in a group, and Gabriel detransformed. “That will be good for today. Thank you.”

Everyone else detransformed, and started for the door. Chloe made her way to the hotel, and entered the lobby to find her father standing there with his arms folded. 

“Chloe. Where were you? I have been looking all over for you!”

Chloe held up her phone. “I was at Adriens’ house. I told you that I was leaving.”

Her father nodded. “I suppose you did. But, you are very late. Next time, please let me know if you are leaving for so long.”

Chloe nodded. Her father left, and Chloe made her way to her room. At least, her father never seemed to really care where she went. That should make this superhero thing pretty easy. As well as rather depressing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The answer is no, Plagg will not be eating cheese in this chapter. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!!! I'll be back next week with another chapter for y'all!!!!


	3. Leap of faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Miraculous test out some abilities out among Paris. A new rivalry threatens to start among the team, which may become an issue down the line. Only time will tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By my count, there are three references to other parts of pop culture. Who can say what they are? I don't have any rewards for anyone who figures it out, except for respect. Either way, hope you enjoy!!!

Marinette stood on a rooftop, waiting for everyone to join her. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that there were now several people on the team with her, it wasn’t just her and Chat. Chat stood beside her, waiting as well. She glanced over, and found that she didn’t know what to say. They were dating now, but she didn’t know what to do about it now. 

“Would you like to go out sometime?” Marinette started at the comment from Chat. “I mean, we haven’t gone on a true date yet, so this seems like it could be a good time to do so. I know that I’ve already asked, but I just wanted to… well… I don’t know. I wanted to ask you as Chat Noir asking Ladybug, as well.”

Marinette smiled. “I think that would be a great idea!!”

Chat bent down and kissed her head. “Then it would be my honor to take you out on a proper date.”

Marinette hugged him tightly, and Chat held her back. Then, she noticed something from the corner of her eye. She turned to see the entire team standing on the rooftop watching them. Rena cleared her throat. “Um… Hi. Are we interrupting something?”

Queen Bee stepped forward. “Do you guys need anything? Water? Some snacks? A condom?”

Marinette felt her face go deep red, and Chat cleared his throat. “Um… Chlo- I mean, Queen, I didn’t know you knew about that. I thought that you didn’t like memes.”

Queen Bee looked down. “I might have picked up a few things recently...”

Marinette cleared her throat, pulling the conversation back on track. “Let’s get back to business.”

“To defeat the huns...” Carapace muttered, making Rena laugh. 

“We will race. The first one to the Eiffel Tower wins. Ready? Let’s go!!” Marinette jumped off the roof, making a beeline to the Eiffel Tower. She heard everyone scramble forward, but Chat was right next to her. They were usually pretty neck to neck in these races, since they had figured out the best ways to get there. Everyone else, though, had to get used to their various methods of travel. 

Rena bounded around, her Miraculous allowing her to move faster on ground than most others. She and Chat were the fastest, but they haven’t had a race to figure out who was better. She could also use her flute to create illusions that had a small amount of hold power, which let her use them as steps if she was quick enough. 

Queen Bee had some wing type apparatus on her back. It allowed her to glide for a short distance. Bee seemed to be able to use them well, jumping high to glide down to the next roof, which she ran across. Then, she would jump again. Her control seemed to be rather difficult, though. She kept going to a side, then over correcting to the other side. 

Carapace easily had it the worst. He just ran. He didn’t have any special ways of transportation, but he did have the same amount of boosted ability. He ran across the roofs, jumping from point to point. He made good use of his environment, using fire escapes if he missed the roof, and taking advantage of streetlights if he had to go onto the road. However, he quickly fell to the back of the group.

They all made it to the Tower within a few minutes, arriving with Bee arriving a few seconds after Chat, followed closely by Rena. Carapace was at the base of the Tower, standing with his hands on his hips, looking up at the balcony. He started jumping up, jamming his shield into the crossbeams and using it to pull himself up. He pulled upwards hard enough to propell himself up to the next grab point. It took a while, but it was rather effective. 

“Hey, I beat you!!!” Bee rested her arm on Rena’s shoulder. “I guess that I’m a natural.”

Rena pushed the arm off. “Or, it has something to do with those fancy wings you have. You just glided over, while others of us had to actually make the trek over here.”

“Or maybe you are just jealous of my skills.” Bee crossed her arms, looking pleased with herself. 

Rena huffed and crossed her own arms, turning away. Carapace arrived on top of the tower and immediately caught onto the awkward energy pervading the balcony. 

“Um… you both were very good… It doesn’t matter who got here first, it just matters that you got here. Right?” Marinette raised her eyebrows at Chat, who shrugged.

“Well, if getting here quickly is the point, then if someone is falling behind, help them out. This is a team, not a competition.” Chat folded his arms. 

They all gathered to the railing, Rena and Bee staying as far as they could from each other.

“What’s next?” Carapace looked over to Marinette who looked him directly in the eyes. 

“Now, we jump off.” With that, Marinette jumped over the railing, looping her yo-yo around one of the girders on the tower and repelled down. Chat was right behind her, using his baton to lower himself down. Bee jumped off, gliding in circles until she reached the ground. Carapace grabbed Rena and hurled them over the edge, curling them both into a ball with the shield below them. As they fell, Marinette heard Nino call out “Don’t worry! I saw this in a movie once!!” followed by Rena shouting that that wasn’t how it worked. Right before they hit the bottom, a series of wooden platforms appeared, and the two crashed through them before slamming into the ground. 

Marinette reached the bottom and approached the two, who were laying on the ground howling with laughter. 

“Oh my god, that was so great!!” Rena bounded to her feet, a massive smile on her face. “That was so fun!!”

Carapace got to his feet and eyed his shield. “Well, as I said, this shield can absorb all impact as well as be impervious. So, the impact from falling from the top of the tower is absorbed. Thanks for slowing us down, though.” Rena gave him a cocky smile. 

Due to the nature of her descent, Queen Bee was the last one to hit the ground. She released the wings while still a bit in the air and landed in a graceful roll. “Well, I suppose that I lost that one.”

Marinette eyed the wings that were now folded on her back. “You know, you could tilt forward and come down faster, then tilt back up when you want to slow down. That way, you’ll be faster.”

Carapace raised his hand. “Um, so what if my shield idea didn’t work, and we ended up falling the entire way?”

Chat stepped forward. “We can survive the fall from the tower. Our suits absorb enough energy to make it survivable. But, it would really hurt. Trust me. It took a few tries for me to get the baton thing right.”

Marinette cringed. “I really wish that you didn’t keep trying.”

Bee checked the time on the hilt of her rapier and cursed. “I have to go. My father will have my head if he finds out that I was out so late.”

With that, she ran to a building and began her trek back home. Carapace whistled. “Damn. It’s only the beginning of the night. Her father must be rather strict.”

Chat nodded. “Well, as you said, it’s the beginning of the night. Shall we do some non-hero stuff?”

Everyone agreed, and they all went to a hidden alleyway to transform back. Soon, instead of Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, and Carapace walking around Paris, it was just Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino traipsing down the road. 

“Hey, dudes. I bet I can beat you all to the cafe at the end of the street.” Nino pointed to the cafe in question. 

“It’s on.” Adrien and Nino took off running together, leaving Marinette and Alya behind. 

“Do you think that we should go?” Alya looked at Marinette, who laughed.

“Nah, they deserve the headstart.”

Marinette and Alya took off after the two boys and managed to overtake them. Marinette was the eventual winner, and Adrien was the loser. Marinette figured that he meant to lose, since it was common practice among them that the loser of the races had to pay.

They all sat in one of the tables, and ate their food. They all had the entire evening out, since they had made their excuses to their parents. For Marinette and Adrien, their excuses were more of the truth, but they didn’t mention that they were going to just hang out. 

Marinette and Nino talked about the newest game of Mecha Strike that was coming out, and Adrien and Alya discussed various topics of interest. Marinette noticed that the topic continually went back to Ladybug. Specifically, what Alya would do with the Ladyblog now that Hawkmoth was defeated. Marinette left that discussion to them, since she had no idea. 

Once the food was all eaten, they just wandered around the town. Marinette huddled into Adrien, and he wrapped his arm around her. Alya and Nino were walking together just close enough that their hands bumped against each others’ when they walked. 

They ended up going to an arcade, and they all congregated around the dance machine. Nino whistled. “This looks like fun.”

Alya pointed to the machine and looked at Marinette. “How about you and Adrien go on up there and compete. I have a few bets about some heroes I know that I would like to answer.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at her friend. However bad her coordination was, it had improved significantly since she became Ladybug. In fact, she never really tripped that much as Ladybug. 

She approached the machine next to Adrien, who looked at her with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Well, My Lady. Shall we?”

Marinette furrowed her brow. “How much experience do you have on this game?”

Adrien smirked a little. “I have it in my room. Haven’t you noticed?”

Marinette felt her stomach sink a little, but she set her mouth in determination. 

The song started, and Marinette began dancing to the prompts. This was a song that she knew pretty well, and she began to get into the swing of things. However, she couldn’t compete with Adrien, and he won by a small margin. But, when she tried to step off, he grabbed her arm. “Let’s try again.”

Marinette nodded and the same song began playing. This time, she started off strong, and was beating Adrien for most of the game. Then, Adrien reached out and grabbed her hand. Instead of hampering her, though, he started to dance with her. He twisted, and Marinette mirrored his movement, and they grabbed both hands. They danced together, twisting and stepping like they had done this dance several hundred times before. 

They finished to raucous applause, and actually had to leave the arcade to avoid the people asking them how they did that. Apparently, being a superhero made one extremely flexible, and they really showed it off during the dance. 

Marinette was escorted home by Adrien, and she said goodnight to her parents as she went to her room. She went to sleep with a big smile on her face. She was looking forward to whatever future she had coming to her, for she knew that no matter what, Adrien was going to be with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will admit, I just wanted to write a scene with them playing a dancing game. It didn't work out as well as I would have hoped. Hope you enjoyed!!!
> 
> EDIT ON MARCH 20TH!!!! I am so sorry that I haven't updated in so long!!! I'm working on a future chapter, and it is not turning out as well as I would hope. I will try to get something out soon!!!!


	4. Adrienette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette go on a long-overdue date. Then, Marinette officially meets Gabriel Agreste. That should be an interesting meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *rises from the ether*  
> I'M NOT DEAD!!! I am so sorry for the very long absence!!!! My inspiration got kicked in the ass and beaten in a side alley. 
> 
> But I am back!!!! And I bring with me a new chapter for this story!!!!!

Adrien sat in his seat in school, barely managing to pay attention to the teacher. He and Marinette were going on their first official date today. The current plan was to go to the zoo and look at everything it had to offer. Adrien had to admit, he was pretty nervous. He had no idea how to apply himself in that situation. After all, he had never actually been on a date before.

The final bell finally, at long last, rang and everyone grabbed their stuff and left. Adrien and Marinette were the last ones to leave, since it was easier to navigate the halls when everyone had already gone through them. 

Adrien packed his things and met Marinette by the door, and they walked out together. Adrien had forgone his ride for the day, opting instead to walk to the zoo with Marinette. He grabbed her bag as well as his own, and they started for the zoo.

“So, how was your day?” Adrien asked, looking down at Marinette. 

“That’s yet another great conversation starter from Adrien Agreste.” Marinette raised an amused eyebrow at him. 

“What do you mean ‘yet another’?”

“Well, there is the way that you actually ended up asking me out.”

Adrien nodded in understanding. “Ah. Well, it might help if I explained that I have never done this before and have no idea what to do.”

Marinette giggled slightly. “Well, then, I guess that we both have some experience to be had.”

Adrien laughed as well, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Marinette leaned into his side, matching her stride with his.

They walked and talked until they reached the zoo. Adrien grabbed the map of the zoo which told of where the various animals were kept, and they wandered around.

“Hey, look at that!!” Marinette pointed at the cage of monkeys. “It’s your family. You should go join them.”

Adrien laughed. “I suppose that I would fit in just fine with them. We both have great climbing skills, amazing reflexes, and a fantastic sense of humor.”

“You also smell about as great as they do.” Marinette wrinkled her nose. “I mean, seriously? Leather? It doesn’t smell too pretty when it’s hot outside.”

Adrien glance down at his very not-leather shirt. “Um...” then it dawned on him. “Oh, yes, my… other outfit. You know that’s not leather, right?”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Yes, I do understand that it is a magical near-impenetrable material that only shares some characteristics of leather. God, Adrien, you gotta learn not to forget that you’re a cat as well.”

Adrien smirked. “Well, if you would like me to remember my cat-like tendencies, I suppose that could be arranged.” He finished his sentence by rubbing his cheek on Marinettes’ hair. 

Marinette giggled. “Adrien, we are in public. Maybe don’t show off the more intense parts right here?”

“Awe, but who is going to growl at the boys who get too close to my Princess?” Adrien grinned.

“This Princess has claws of her own, you know.” Marinette held up her hand. “You do know that using a yo-yo has increased my wrist strength significantly. I could probably lay out Kim if I wanted to.”

Adrien nodded. He had witnessed that strength when Alix had roped Marinette into an arm wrestle. People still wondered how Marinette managed to beat Alix when her arms were as thin as they were. Adrien wondered if the resistance that Alix had put up was an act on Marinettes’ part to make sure that it wasn’t too easy.

“Well, of course, My Lady. But, that doesn’t mean that I have to let someone get close enough to let you use them.”

Marinette giggled again, and leaned into his side. Adrien replaced his arm around her shoulder as they continued through the zoo. They chatted about various things, and generally had a great time. They had a small snack to eat from one of the nearby vendors, and they talked about school and a project they had to do. 

Eventually, they had seen everything at the zoo, so they left for the next leg of their journey. Gabriel Agreste had asked to officially meet her. He said that he had met Ladybug, but had yet to actually meet Marinette. So, he was hosting a dinner at his house. 

Marinette was feeling rather nervous. Gabriel Agreste was literally her biggest idol. She based a lot of her designs on his own designs, and she had almost every issue of any fashion magazine with him featured. (This totally didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Adrien was also featured…) She had met him, but as Gabriel had said, that meeting was for business, not to get to know each other.

Marinette had designed a dress for the occasion, and they stopped off at her house so she could change really quick. Adrien sat in the living room, being fawned over by Marinettes’ parents. If Adrien was being honest, he felt better in this house than he ever had in his own. Even though his father was now trying to be better, he still had a ways to go. Adrien intended on being there for every step of the way, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Every thought he had been thinking went straight out the window as soon as he saw Marinette. She had designed a pink dress with a decent amount of black trimming around the collar, cuffs, and on the lower hem. There were also blue highlights throughout the dress, bringing out the pink color. Her hair was actually down for the first time Adrien had ever seen. 

Marinette gave a small smile, waiting his reaction. 

“Oh my god...” Adrien could only stare, open-mouthed. 

Tom stepped up to him and placed a finger under his mouth, closing it. Adrien looked over at him, his eyes wide. Tom smiled. “Oh, I agree, Adrien.”

Marinettes’ face went red. “What do you think?”

Adrien rushed forward. “You’re gorgeous!”

Marinette gave him a small smile of gratitude. Adrien beamed back. 

“Oh, we just absolutely need a picture of this!!” Sabine walked in with a camera. “Smile!!”

She took several pictures of the two of them, until they had to leave for the manor. Adrien took Marinette by the arm, and escorted her to the door. “I will have her back soon. I won’t let my father bully her around too much.” Adrien smiled and opened the door. Tom and Sabine waved bye from the couch, and Adrien and Marinette left the house. They walked the relatively short walk to the manor, and Nathalie opened the gates for them. 

Right in the door, Gabriel stood waiting for them. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw Marinette, who hunched into Adrien. “Ms. Dupain-Cheng. Your dress is beautiful. Did you make it yourself?”

Marinette nodded. “Yes. I have been working on it for a bit as a side project, but I decided to use it for this event, it was supposed to be solidly pink, but I altered it for this dinner, putting in the black and the blue, and I-”

Adrien grabbed her shoulders. “Marinette. Calm down. It’s just some blond dude in a suit.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at that comment, but Marinette calmed down. “I’m sorry. I was rambling. I am excited to speak with you, Mr. Agreste.”

“Well, then. Allow me to escort you to the dining room. Dinner shall be ready soon.” Gabriel turned and walked towards the room where they had had their meeting a few days before.

**Marinette**

Dinner went extremely well, in Marinettes’ opinion. Gabriel asked her questions about her designs, and Marinette kicked herself for forgetting to bring her portfolio. It would be an honor to get her designs inspected by Gabriel Agreste himself. 

They also talked about her school experiences, and Gabriel praised her derby hat competition entry. Marinette had actually almost completely forgotten about that day. Something hit her suddenly. It should have been so obvious to her!! Chat Noir had been extremely allergic to feathers, a relatively rare allergy. So had Adrien. She hadn’t put that together!!!!

Marinette enjoyed talking with Gabriel Agreste, but Adrien was still obviously uncomfortable. She tried to comfort him, but didn’t know how she could make it easier for him to let his father talk to her so freely. 

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, would you like to help me with a project I am working on?” Marinette froze. Did Gabriel Agreste just ask for her help? “This project is being extremely frustrating to me. I am trying to develop a line based off of Paris through the ages, but this age is being difficult. Perhaps you can assist me in basing a dress off of this day and age?”

Marinette nearly choked. “Oh, of course Mr. Agreste. And, please, feel free to call me Marinette.”

“Of course. When we finish dinner, we may go to my office.” They were nearly done, anyways. They finished quickly, and Gabriel led Marinette to the office, Adrien following with a confused expression. Had he not expected this? Well, Marinette hadn’t expected it either, so maybe it wasn’t so strange.

Gabriel showed her the line of dresses, and Marinette found herself thoroughly impressed. This might end up being her favorite of the “Agreste” lines. It was based off of different periods in time, each set of outfits having a different theme. But, the last dress didn’t quite fit. It was a dark gray dress with some prominent black lines going through it, a streak of red going through the middle of the black lines. Marinette furrowed her brow. 

“I though that it would be fitting if I decided to incorporate some Ladybug and Chat Noir into it, but I feel that there is no more room for anything else. It feels more like a dress for them, rather than a dress for modern day.”

Marinette closed her eyes, thinking through various ideas. She could diminish the black and red, instead making it more of a darker gray and maroon, and then… 

The dress behind it, showing the previous time period was obviously based off of Victorian times. Minimal electric technology mixed in with a few stylized gears. Maybe if she…

Gabriel suddenly set a paper and pencils down in front of her, and Marinette started sketching automatically. She put down a dress with the same lines, but they were very muted, and woven through the dress was a circuit board pattern. Along the collar, she put in lapels, and she made the cuffs fold back onto itself. These were made in the same style as the Ladybug/Chat Noir lines. After making those, Marinette extended the bottom of the dress so it went from knee-length to half-calf. 

Gabriel looked over the design after Marinette had finished, and made an agreeing hum. “I like this. Muting the colors is a great way to lessen the effect without getting rid of it, and I like the simplicity of the circuit board design. Although, I would have tried to implement the circuit board on the lapels and cuffs, to maintain the feel of the outfit.”

Marinette looked over the design, and nodded, opening her mouth to agree, when all of their phones went off. Pulling them out, they saw that it was a news alert about some strange people trampling around the Eiffel Tower, calling for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marinette felt her body go cold and started hearing her blood in her ears

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other with shocked expressions, and then at Gabriel, who nodded. 

It was time to meet the Hunters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't guarantee that I will be able to maintain a regular updating schedule from here on, since my work schedule has drastically changed, and I now have less time to myself to write, but I will keep this coming as fast as I can!!!!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!!!


	5. The Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is finally time for a good old-fashioned battle between Team Miraculous and The Hunters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My God, I left you with a really crazy cliffhanger on that last chapter, didn't I? I am so sorry. I didn't mean to just leave for so long. But I am back!!!! Hopefully with a good story to tell!!!

Adrien was the first to arrive at the rooftop overlooking the Arc De Triomphe, where there were five people in colorful costumes standing on the arch. The Hunters didn’t move as the five members of Team Miraculous arrived on top of the building with Adrien. Marinette might have been first, but she had been delayed by Gabriel, who had pulled her aside to whisper something into her ear.

Once everyone was in position, Ladybug stepped forward and addressed the team. “If we get into a fight today, I want us to leave first. If there is a fight, that will mean that they haven’t listened to our side, and they will be actively coming for us. We don’t want to make them know just how good we actually are, or how limited our training is. So, we will throw the first match. Fight with less than what you have.”

Everyone agreed, but Queen Bee had a sour look on her face. Adrien stepped forward. “Judging on the fact that cars are still driving by, we can assume that the Hunters have not stopped traffic. In case this does end up becoming a fight, Rena, I would like you to ask local police officers to close the roads. I don’t want there to be any possibility for anyone to get hurt.”

Rena gave a mock salute and jumped off the roof, landing with a roll that turned into a sprint toward a police car at an intersection. Adrien stood next to Ladybug on the roof, watching the Hunters, who sent one of their own to watch Rena. Judging from the costume, Adrien could assume that it was Ocelot who followed. 

Adrien stared at the opposing side for a few minutes until the trickle of cars had eventually halted. Rena Rouge rejoined them on the roof as they waited for the Hunters to make a move. With a quick gesture from the one who had to be Alpha, the Hunters all jumped from the Arc De Triomphe, and Team Miraculous did the same from their building. 

The two sides met in the middle, Alpha walking a little bit faster to be ahead, Ladybug doing the same. The two faced each other without showing any fear of the other. Alpha was the first to speak.

“You will turn your miraculous over to us. Chat Noir and Carapace will do the same. The other two have no evidence of criminal activity against them, and may keep their miraculous as long as they don’t do anything bad.” Alpha had a pretty good grasp of the French language, even though his accent was from England. 

“That evidence was planted by Hawkmoth, the villain we have recently defeated, who had been terrorizing the Parisian people for over a year. Nice to have your help with that one.” Ladybug crossed her arms.

“The Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous had been activated by the time we had heard of the situation, so we figured that it was taken care of. Obviously, we were indeed needed, since the kids chosen were no better than the tyrant with the butterfly.” Alpha narrowed his eyes. “However, we will give you the chance to give it to us peacefully.”

Ladybug just raised an eyebrow. “Hawkmoth, by his own admission, faked the evidence with colleagues and computer generated models, taking advantage of poor camera quality to convince people that we are criminals. However, we did none of those things.”

Alpha lowered his hand. “I would like to believe you, and perhaps we can review the evidence later, but we have a job to be doing. In any case, your villain has been taken care of. You do not need the miraculous anymore. You two, Rena Rouge and… I didn’t catch your name. What are you going to do?”

Bee stepped forward. “The name is Queen Bee, and we will be standing with our friends.” Rena nodded next to Bee.

Alpha took a slow breath, obviously disappointed. “Very well.”

With a quick gesture of his hand, the fight began. Alpha twisted and slashed his dagger at Ladybug, who dodged easily. Grizzly went after Rena Rouge, but Carapace tackled the large man. Instead, Ocelot slashed at Rena, who puffed away into a cloud of orange smoke. Longclaw went for Queen Bee, who pulled out her rapier. Longclaw did the same, but seemed reluctant to make the first blow. That left Adrien with Tails. The thin man jumped forward. He had on a light gray outfit, with dark gray streaks running along his arms, legs, and the thick tail running behind him. Adrien pulled out his baton as Tails pulled his lasso from around his waist. 

The fight between them was more of a tug-of-war with Adrien trying not to let Tails get his baton, which the small man had lassoed. They tugged, but Adrien thought back to Ladybugs’ words before they came down: “Fight with less than what you have.” 

Adrien let go of the baton, and let Tails start hounding him around the road, dodging the lasso with ease, but making it look like he was barely managing.

**CHLOE**

Chloe fought against the Bird Lady, managing to hold her own rather impressively. However, that was because Chloe was the only one attacking. Bird Lady was not making any aggressive moves against Chloe. What was her name? Longclaw? Yes, that was it. Chloe had not been paying enough attention to the lecture about this team. To be fair, Chloe was still shocked about being chosen to be a superhero. By Marinette, no less!!!

Suddenly, Chloe found her sword being thrown from her hands. Longclaw had actually gone in for a hit, but only to knock the sword from Chloes’ hands. Now, Longclaw put away her sword and went in to wrestle Chloe to the ground. Chloe gave off a small squeak and jumped, intending to glide away. However, Longclaw could to the same thing, and was following Chloe. 

Chloe set her jaw. She would put up a fight. She was the daughter of the mayor, damn it! She turned sharply, dropping to the ground and rolling to the side. She ran to the Arc De triomphe (always had been one of her favorite spots) and started leaping to the top. Everyone called her dramatic, and Chloe was determined to prove them right.

**ALYA**

Alya cursed under her breath. This Ocelot girl was extremely annoying. She kept leaping around, swiping at Alya. So far, the only thing keeping Alya from getting a face of claws was the fact that Ocelot couldn’t seem to be able to find Alya. The Rena Rouges that Ocelot swiped at were mere illusions.

However, eventually, luck ran out for Alya and Ocelot found her. Alya rolled backwards, keeping away from the claws. Ocelot turned to find another Rena, but stopped when the move registered. Ocelot turned to face Alya, a grin spreading on her face. “Gotcha.”

Alya’s eyes went wide, and she held up her flute. Ocelot charged, and Alya swung the flute. Ocelot grabbed it easily and started to pull, but Alya held on tightly. Then, without warning, Alya planted a foot to Ocelots’ stomach and released the flute while kicking outward. Ocelot flew back, propelled by her own pull, and also the kick. That was a small trick Alya had learned from her siblings. The kick was new, though. 

However, Alya knew that she was not good enough to fend off Ocelot forever. Soon, the tan-clad enemy was back on her feet. Alya held out her hand, and the flute Ocelot clutched puffed into orange smoke and then materialized in Alya’s outstretched hand. This was going to be a long fight.

**NINO**

“Hey, bro. What’s up?” Nino held the fist of Grizzly back with his shield. Grizzly made no indication that he knew what Nino had said. “Not a French speaker? Damn. I was hoping for some in-battle small talk. You know, get to know each other better.”

Grizzly growled and pushed harder, throwing Nino back. Nino stood quickly, facing Grizzly, who said something in what Nino thought to be English. Nino smiled back, not sure if that was the correct reaction. 

Obviously, it was not. Grizzly roared and charged Nino, who had to leap to the side to avoid getting steamrolled. “Whoa, dude. Careful!”

Grizzly turned back, a look of rage on his face. Ninos’ grin fell off. That was not a friendly smile.

**MARINETTE**

Marinette faced off against Alpha, dodging the dagger as it swished against her again and again. Marinette actually wondered what would happen if the dagger actually managed to hit her. But, the rational side of her told her that that was something that was better left unknown. So, Marinette dodged.

The attacks were so quick that Marinette had difficulty finding an opening to attack, herself. So, she just waited. And, she appreciated the costume. It was a dark gray, with a light gray patch of fur around the neck and down the front. The hands had light gray on the wrists, extending halfway up the lower arm. There was a similar pattern on the legs. The mask was a dark gray mask similar to Chat Noir. 

The dagger was pretty simplistic, similar to a military knife. Made to be utilitarian, rather than fashionable. That just made it that much more intimidating, though. 

Marinette managed to throw her yo-yo and hit Alpha in the chest, knocking him back a beat before he started in again. This was not going well at all. Marinette had planned on fighting them with less than their true skill, but here, she was fighting for her life. It was all she could do just to avoid getting stabbed. However, she did end up getting a graze to her upper arm. It wasn’t deep, but it stung like hell. 

Marinette growled, and threw herself back into the fray, trying to push Alpha back more.

**ADRIEN**

Adrien fought Tails, and thought that he had things well in hand. Indeed, he did, but when there was a cry from behind him, he realized that not everyone was doing so well. Carapace was getting slammed down by Grizzly, who was now grumbling something.

Adrien took Tails by surprise by ducking down and grabbing her by the arm and leg, heaving her towards Grizzly. They both went down in a heap, and Adrien offered a hand to help Carapace up. When the two others stood, Adrien went towards Grizzly, leaving Tails for Carapace. Adrien started dodging the attacks, moving fluidly from one ridiculous pose to another. Grizzly started growling something under his breath, and Adrien realized that this man was speaking English. A wicked smile grew on Adriens’ lips. Adrien knew a decent amount of English.  
“Hey, Sunbear! Missed me!” Adrien dodged yet another attack. “Wow, you are not only as large as a bear, but just as slow!”

Grizzly snarled, then. And not just some little thing. It was a loud growl that made people freeze for a second before continuing their various fights. Their fight continued on like this, Adrien making a quip in English, and Grizzly getting even more angry. Grizzly did manage to land a few hits on Adrien, although they didn’t seem like they were at the full force of the large mans’ abilities. This man seemed like he could rip any one of them in half. 

Adrien was in the middle of a swing with his baton and a particularly clever pun about Grizzly’s face when he heard Ladybug shout “TEAM MIRACULOUS, LET’S GO!!”

Adrien stopped his baton and gave Grizzly a smirk and a salute before leaping out of reach. Grizzly watched with pure rage on his face, everyone else on his team shying away from him. 

While following Ladybug, Adrien began to really feel the aches and pains he had gained from the fight. As they landed on a roof close to the Agreste manor, Adrien stumbled and nearly fell over. His right side burned, and his left arm wouldn’t raise all the way up. And, he was the best off out of the bunch. 

Carapace was holding his right shoulder, which looked like it had been dislocated. Queen Bee favored her forearm, which had a shallow slice on it, and she also looked like she was going to get a black eye. Rena Rouge held her stomache and looked like she was about to pass out. Ladybug had a deep gash on her arm and thigh, her face showing suppressed pain.

Adrien felt his knees buckle, but something caught him from behind. He looked up to see a figure in blue standing over him.

“Is everyone OK? Does anyone need to go to the hospital?” Gabriel Agreste stood over everyone dressed in his old Miraculous costume. As everyone shook their heads, Adriens’ father let him to the ground gently. “Everyone transform back. Tom and Sabine are on their way.” 

Adrien did not miss how Marinette winced and looked at her cuts as she transformed back. Nino and Alya made their way to the door, but Gabriel stepped forward, pulling Nino aside, whispering to him silently. Once they were around the roof access point, there was a sharp cry and a popping noise. Alya cringed, and Chloe stepped forward, putting an awkward arm around her shoulders. 

The doors burst open and two shapes, one large and one small, rushed onto the roof. The small one, Sabine, went straight for Marinette and fussed over the cuts. Tom, however, went for Adrien, easily picking him up in his arms. Gabriel walked back around the roof access, towing Nino, whose shoulder had been reset. Alya ran to him, gingerly putting arms around his neck. Gabriel looked Chloe over, giving her tips on how to cover up the black eye with makeup. Tom carried Adrien down the stairs, and when they reached the street, Adrien insisted on walking. 

Tom walked close next to Adrien, a hand on his shoulder. “You know, I can massage that shoulder of yours, make it easier to move your arm around.”

Adrien held open his jacket gingerly, letting Plagg hide away. “Thank you, Monsieur Dupain.”

Tom gave him a look. “We have been over this, it’s Tom.”

Adrien nodded, finding it hard to make his feet move. Gabriel walked to the middle of the group. “Nathalie and I have taken the liberty to tell everyone’s parents that their children will be staying here for the night. Sleeping spaces have been given for everyone. Food has been set out for your kwamis, as well.”

As soon as they passed the threshold into Agreste manor, five colored lights zipped away into the kitchen as the kwamis flew to the food. Everyone else made their way to the designated areas for sleeping. Not a single person stayed up for more than 10 minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, I am mean to Team Miraculous here. And that's just the first battle...


	6. Soreness and Tender Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Miraculous has survived round 1 with the Hunters. How do they react to their various hurts?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short, but it hits on some important points.

Marinette woke up, feeling terrible. She started to stretch, but stopped with a clipped cry when her arm and leg sent a pang of pain through her. She managed to get to her feet, and nearly had a heart attack from her unfamiliar surroundings, when she remembered that she was at Adriens’ house. 

The events from the previous evening came back to her, when she had fought Alpha. Gabriel had said to hold back a bit, and not to show off her true potential, so she had grit her teeth and let the blade land twice. But, she had miscalculated, and the cuts went deeper than she meant for them to. 

Marinette stumbled out of the door, and was met with the enticing aroma of her parents’ cooking, mixed in with something else. More food. 

Making her way to the kitchen, Marinette found herself joined by Alya. She had come away with the smallest amount of physical harm, due to her speed, but she still held her stomach a little. 

“Hey, girl. How are you feeling?” Alya made to put her arm around Marinettes’ shoulders, but hesitated. 

“Really sore, and kinda painful. Still waking up.” Marinette grabbed the hovering arm and placed it over her own shoulders. “Let’s go get some breakfast, shall we?”

When they arrived at the dining room, they found Marinettes’ parents talking to Gabriel, and, surprisingly, Chloe, sitting on her own at the end of the table.

Marinette placed a bunch of food on her plate, while Alya placed very little, and they moved to go sit with Chloe. She barely even looked at them. Her eye was a dark black, and rather swollen, but there was an ice pack sitting next to her as she ate. Her forearm was bandaged, but didn’t look like it would trouble her very much down the road. 

Marinette was almost done with her plate when Adrien and Nino walked in. Nino looked kinda upset, and Adrien had bags under his eyes. They both had the look of people who had just walked away from an argument. 

Nino grabbed his food, and sat with a huff next to Alya, who leaned against him, her food barely touched. Adrien sat across from Marinette, and kept his eyes downcast. When he did look up at Marinette, she cocked her head to silently ask what was wrong. Adrien jerked his head towards Nino, then hung his head. Whatever was wrong between Adrien and Nino, Adrien felt responsible. 

Once everyone was finished eating, Gabriel stood to address them. “Last night was a stinging defeat. They will go into the next battle thinking that they have it in the bag. We will work to make sure that their overconfidence will be their downfall.”

Marinette looked around and saw looks of trepidation on everyones’ faces. Chloe just scowled down at her food. 

“Now that Hawkmoth has been taken care of, criminals might start coming back out of their hiding places. You will still need to keep up patrols. This will still be rather dangerous, since now the Hunters will be out there looking for you. You will need to keep a low profile, and get things done quickly.”

Marinette frowned. “My costume is bright red. It’s not exactly inconspicuous.”

Tikki suddenly swooped up from where she and the other kwamis were eating by Gabriel. “We might be able to help with that.”

Plagg followed, munching on some cheese. “We can change your costumes a bit, to make them a bit better at hiding.”

Alya perked up. “Can you?”

Trixx slowly floated up to her. “Our bond isn’t quite as strong enough for that, I’m afraid. We might be close, but we haven’t reached that quite yet.”

Alya nodded. “I understand.”

Chloe looked at Pollen, who shook her head too. Chloe sunk even lower in her seat. 

Gabriel looked everyone over, and sighed. “I have taken the liberty to explain to your parents that you will be here to the day. You will be expected back home later in the evening. You should have an excuse ready if your parents ask what you were doing.”

With that, he turned and left, leaving everyone to figure out what they were going to do for the rest of the day. 

Chloe ended up going home to keep up appearances, despite everyone telling her to stay. However, Marinettes’ parents gave her the all clear, as long as she kept her makeup on and long sleeves. 

Alya and Nino went to one of their bedrooms to chat a bit while they recovered for a few hours, while Marinette and Adrien went to the living room. 

Tikki and Plagg swooped up to them, almost taking them by surprise. Tikki pushed Plagg down playfully before addressing the couple. 

“So, you two need to have some new outfits. Adrien, yours is fine, but it needs to change so Marinette can change hers. It’s kind of a package deal when we go with this method.”

“Done.” Adrien looked over at Marinette. “Anything to keep My Lady safe.”

Marinette blushed and looked down. “Is there anything that we need to do to help you?”

Plagg shook his head. “No, you have already done it. The reason both of you change is because you take on attributes of the other. This won’t change anything except your costumes.”

Marinette looked over at Adrien. “I’m OK with this if you are.”

“As I said. Anything to protect My Lady.” Adrien grabbed her hand and placed a kiss to the back of it.

**ALYA**

Alya sat on the chair, listening to Nino. Apparently, he and Adrien were having a slight spat about the fight last night. Nino didn’t like how Adrien had taken over the fight with Grizzly, since it seemed like Adrien had thought that Nino couldn’t handle it. Adrien had said something about how he had some experience fighting people like Grizzly from his Akuma-fighting days.

Alya listened, and understood where Nino was coming from. But, she did have something to say. 

“I’m glad that Adrien took over.”

Nino suddenly went quiet. Alya looked up to see Nino giving her a slightly betrayed look. 

“I don’t mean to make it seem like he was in the right! He was kinda rude about it, but I’m glad he did. I saw you fighting Grizzly. By your own admission, you were having issues with him. Adrien does have experience with that. But, the main reason is that I can’t stand to see something happen to you.”

Ninos’ face went from betrayed to soft. “Oh… Thanks Alya… What about the rest of the team?”

Alya felt her face become stern. “Of course I want to protect them, but you’re my boyfriend, Nino. I want you to be safe especially. You and Mari.”

Nino looked down. “You’re right. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, either.”

Alya reached forward. “Let’s take a look at that shoulder, shall we?”

**CHLOE**

Chloe stepped into her room, opening her purse to let Pollen out. She looked at her eye in the mirror, and saw that her eye was still discolored, despite the layers of makeup Gabriel had applied.

There was really no excuse for her father to miss it. Or the cut, since Chloe hadn’t had any long sleeves, so she had the cut exposed for the world to see. Nobody noticed at all. Well, maybe Nathanael. He was giving her a strange look…

WAIT.

What was Nathanael doing in the Hotel?

Chloe put on a long sleeve shirt and almost ran down the stairs, nearly running into her butler. Nathanael was walking towards the door, his head hanging low. Chloe slid across the floor, ending right next to him. 

“Nath!!” Nathanael jumped, dropping his sketchbook. Chloe managed to grab it right before it hit the ground, surprising them both. “Hey, Nath.”

Nathanael stared at her, his mouth slightly open. “Hey, Chloe! How are you?”

“I’m doing well!”

His eyes flicked to her arm for the briefest of seconds before he said: “That’s good. Um… This isn’t… Well… Um… I don’t know how to do this...” Chloe was about to say something when Nathanael closed his eyes, dropped his head down, and said “Would you like to go out sometime?”

Chloe stared at him for a long moment, long enough for him to open his eyes and peer up at her. He seemed to almost decide to turn and leave before Chloe found enough of her voice to say “Yes!! I’d love to!!”

**ADRIEN**

Adrien and Marinette stood on the rooftop, watching the sun go down. Their kwamis were finished with… whatever it was they were doing to change the suits, and it was now time to try them out.

Marinette held up her hand for Tikki, while Plagg made his home on Adriens’ shoulder. They watched as the sun dripped down below the horizon, then decided to make their transformations. 

With the usual cries, they both transformed. It felt no different, but Adrien spotted the differences immediately. Ladybug now had some black “boots” and “gloves”, with some fancy embellishments. On her sides and back was now a black patch, along with a black outline on her mask. The most obvious change was the fact that her hair was now undone. 

Adrien looked down and found that he had had a much larger wardrobe upgrade. Now, he had several dark red sections with dark green highlights, and some red highlights in other places, like his tail. Honestly, he thought it looked very good. But not as good as Ladybug, in his opinion. She would still have an issue hiding in darkness, but it wasn’t a lost cause anymore. 

Adrien detransformed alongside Marinette, both of them catching their kwamis. 

“That was great!!” Adrien praised, and Marinette nodded enthusiastically. 

Adrien felt his phone buzz, and he pulled it out to see a text from Chloe. 

**FROM: CHLOE:** Adrien, holy shit!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be posting the new designs for the suits soon, and I shall put them here.


	7. Front Yard Antics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The five friends find out that their actions have some consequences. But those consequences are interrupted by another one. Meanwhile, Chloe is having a bit of an internal struggle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!!!! 
> 
> I am going to be ending this soon. I'll probably see if I can go for a nice, round 10 chapters. So, sorry if things seem to be written in hastily. I did plan on having more, but I couldn't figure out enough filler for it.

Adrien walked into the classroom with Marinette, both of them hyper aware of the fact that they were 10 minutes late. The teacher gave them a flat stare as they settled down into their seats. The night before, he and Marinette had gone out on a patrol, and it seemed that even with the three months of training, they still needed practice hiding from the hunters, even at night with their new suits, and the hunters had found them and chased them for an hour, shouting that they should not keep trying to pretend that they were heroes, and the hunters would take care of stopping crime.

Alya and Marinette whispered as Nino leaned over “Bro, you OK? You look dead in your seat.”

Adrien shrugged “Late night. The hunters are still being very persistent in making us have some late nights.”

Nino nodded. He had had his own fair share of late nights when he patrolled with Alya and Chloe.

“Adrien, how did last night go?” Chloe whisper-yelled from her seat. This seemed to be too much for the teacher, however, since she whirled around to face them. 

“Miss Bourgeois, Mr. Agreste, Mr. Lahiffe, Miss Chesaire, and Miss. Dupain-Cheng!!! If you keep disrupting class, I will be forced to give you all detentions!”

At that moment, Marinettes’ phone went off. Adrien knew that particular tone to mean that her parents were texting her, but the teacher assumed that it was one of them who did it.

“I’ve had it. Between all of your tardiness and your disruptions, I’m going to give all of you detentions! Speak to me after class.”

Adrien slumped down in his seat. He had talked with his father to expect something like this, but it still wasn’t something he wanted to have happen. Also, right around when school ended was when Nino and Alya were going to do a patrol, and more importantly, Chloe was going on a date with Nathanael. Adrien looked over to Chloe, and didn’t see the sad look he expected from someone who was going to have to cancel a date. Instead, Chloe almost seemed happy that the date was canceled. 

Adrien sat for the rest of class, wondering what he was going to end up doing. And, hey, maybe Chloe was going to use her usual “My father” excuse. By the time class ended, Adrien was almost excited to be able to wriggle his way out of trouble. But, as the teacher gave them their detention, Chloe remained silent, a distant look in her eyes. 

So, Adrien, Marinette, Alya, Nino, and Chloe were going to clean the sidewalk in front of the school. As they all started walking to their next classes, Chloe held Marinette behind everyone, talking to her as they walked. Whatever was up with Chloe, Marinette would be able to figure it out. She was good at that.

**MARINETTE**

Chloe was telling Marinette something that Marinette had never actually run into before. As Chloe described it, Chloe liked Nathanael, but she didn’t… like Nathanael. Marinette couldn’t quite figure it out. She figured that the reason Chloe went to her was the fact that Marinette had helped Chloe to figure out her sexuality, but the reason Marinette could help Chloe with that was the fact that Marinette had the same sexuality. However, Marinette liked Adrien as much as she could like someone, so Marinette… Oh. That did kinda make sense.

Marinette turned to Chloe, about to say something, when a group of men rounded the corner and walked up to the group of friends. One of them stepped forward and looked back to his own group.

“Well, look here, guys! We got ourselves some free wallets!”

The group of men started laughing and walking forward. Marinette looked behind herself, and saw that everyone had the same thought. Adrien stepped into a vaguely defensive stance with his broom, Alya and Chloe stepped close to each other, and Nino grabbed the lid of the trash can. It was plastic, but it would do. Marinette stepped back, so she was at the head of the group. “Free? I think not.”

There were no weapons that approximated the abilities of a yo-yo, so Marinette was stuck with just her own two hands. So, she set her feet to be ready for an attack. The group of men started laughing harder, but the only actions that happened behind Marinette was Adrien kicking off the brush of his broom, and Alya broke the handle of another broom, handing one half of it to Chloe. 

The men started running forward, but they were defeated within a few minutes. Marinette stepped back, rubbing her knuckles. It turned out that punching people without the help of a magical suit was not very pleasant. Adrien was looking at the handle of the broom he was using in place of a staff. It had a crack in it, but it didn’t break at all. Alya and Chloe had abandoned their halves of the handle after Alya had accidentally scratched one of the men on the arm. 

Principle Damocles ran out of the school, dressed in his vigilante costume, but he pulled up short when he saw the group of men sitting down, holding arms and legs. None of them were unconscious, but neither were any of the kids hurt.

“Um… Clearly we need to change our policies on detention… You are all dismissed.”

As they left, Damocles called the police, sounding very confused as he explained that a group of men were already taken down. He did, however, neglect to mention that it was regular kids who stopped them, so everyone would assume that it was the work of one of the miraculous teams in the city. 

Nobody noticed the fact that there was a figure watching, ears perked up.

**ALYA**

Everybody said their farewells, saying that they would all meet up the next day at school, etc. Alya wound her way home, an itch pressing on her mind. Who were the new miraculous holders? Paris wasn’t known to be a very good tourist attraction anymore, since there were very consistent terrorist attacks, and now an increase in crime to a degree which deterred almost every person who wanted to pose with the Eiffel Tower.

So, there was now a limited number of people who they could be. Alya said hi to her parents, who scolded her for disrupting class again, then she went to her room after dinner. She had some research to do. First, she started checking online for anyone who was here on a temporary basis, without setting a specific term they would stay. There were tons of options there, and nothing stood out. So, Alya started looking back a bit. 

Since the Miraculous Hunters was already an organized group before Marinette and Adrien started their tenure, it meant that there were several times that miraculous were misused. So, Alya started her search there, looking for strange occurrences. There were some strange events in Germany a while back, several months before the defeat of Hawkmoth. Alya booted up everything that had to do with that. She scanned every report and picture, looking for anything she could find. Apparently, before the events stopped, something loud happened at a warehouse. Alya pulled up reports of that incident, and found an article talking about the mysterious noises from the warehouse. It apparently sounded like wild animals had found a group of humans and attacked. When authorities arrived, they couldn’t find their way into the warehouse, until suddenly the noises stopped and the doors all unlocked at once. Nothing was found inside. 

Alya found a picture from a news report with something strange in the background: a group of five people were busy throwing someone into a van. The picture wasn’t a good enough quality to make out any details, but one of them had on a long white coat, similar to a lab coat or a doctors’ coat. There were too many of both labs and hospitals in the city for Alya to track them down, but maybe if she narrowed the parameters of her search… 

Several hours later, Alya was left staring at her computer screen, her mouth slightly agape. She thought she might know who Alpha was behind his mask.

Just then, the Ladyblog rang with a notification about the Hunters.

**MARINETTE**

Just after the men attacked them, Marinette led Chloe up the stairs to her room. She was going to have an interesting talk with Chloe.

“Marinette, seriously. What’s wrong with me?” Chloe asked.

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with you.” Marinette sat Chloe down on the chaise, then pulled her rolling chair over. 

Chloe flopped backwards “But everyone else is kissing and doing all that stuff with their partners, and Nathanael might be wanting me to do that with him, but I don’t really want to be doing that. I don’t get why people want to do it all the time.”

Marinette almost laughed. Kim had explained it to her, and it took a while for her to figure it out, so Marinette could feel what Chloe was going through. “Chloe, what you are feeling sounds a lot like you’re asexual.”

Chloe looked at Marinette from her position laying on the chaise “I’m what now?”

“Asexual. You don’t really feel the urge to do anything sexual. I’m guessing that you haven’t had… those thoughts about Nath?”

“What? No! Who does?” Chloe sat back up “Do you feel that way about Adrien?”

“Well...”

“Stop, don’t answer that. But that doesn’t answer why I don’t want to kiss Nath!”

Marinette leaned back in her chair “Asexuality has different degrees. Someone might be asexual, but want to kiss and cuddle and do all that, they just don’t want to… take that final step. Or, someone might want to just have a significant other, and that’s enough for them. There’s many different degrees for it.”

Chloe sat, absorbing all of this new information. “So, you’re saying that there’s nothing wrong with me?”

Marinette nodded “You should talk to Nathanael about the boundaries of your relationship. That way, you’re not keeping him waiting for something that’s not going to happen.”

“Yeah. That makes sense. Wait, what if he doesn’t want that? What if he wants to… do that?”

Marinette leaned forward and grabbed Chloes’ hand “Chloe, you are you. Nothing can change that. If Nathanael really cares for you, he won’t leave you just because your interests aren’t the same as his.”

Chloe nodded, and it seemed like her eyes were starting to tear up. Marinette went back to her desk to grab a box of tissues.

“Thanks. It’s just kind of a relief to know that this isn’t something wrong with me.” Chloe dabbed at her eyes, trying to keep her makeup intact.

Marinette smiled at her. “You can stay for a while, if you would like. My parents aren’t upset at my disruptions in class, since they know why now. So, I’m not in any big trouble.”

Chloe smiled back. “Thanks, Marinette. Maybe I can try that Mecha Strike game you and Adrien like so much.”

A while later, Marinettes’ phone chimed. Looking at it, Marinette saw a text from Alya, and the blood ran from her face. She showed her phone to Chloe, who set her mouth resolutely.

**ADRIEN**

Adrien waited in his room for his father to finish his work for the day. Usually, it took a few hours after Adrien got home for that to happen. So, Adrien passed the time playing games. At one point, Marinette was online, but she said that she had Chloe playing with her, so they couldn’t play online, since Chloe wasn’t experienced enough.

Once his father was finished, Adrien went to go meet him in the dining room for dinner. They ate in silence, until Adrien broke it: “Pere, is there some other resolution to this fight with the Hunters that doesn’t end in one side winning against the other in a fight?”

Gabriel set down his fork and wiped his mouth, ever so refined. “There might be, but it would be difficult. I’m guessing that you haven’t had any significant exchange of words with them?”

Adrien shook his head. Every time they had faced the Hunters while out on patrol, they were attacked on sight, no opportunity for a chat (heh). In fact, that Grizzly guy seemed to have made it his personal mission to take down Chat Noir. Maybe it had something to do with the insults Adrien had given to the man during their first fight. And it probably REALLY didn’t help that Adrien didn’t stop it there, and made those insults at every opportunity he could.

“I am concerned with what will happen after a large fight. Crime is already rising, and it’s hard to keep it down with the Hunters breathing down our backs like they are. If they win the fight, they will leave and criminals will get bold and start doing more. If we win, we will be painted as worse than what Hawkmoth has done, since we took down a group of miraculous holders who did no harm to anyone. There’s no winning against them in a fight.”

Gabriel nodded “I see you have put some thought into this.”

Adrien was about to answer, when his phone went off. He checked, and his brows drew together. He showed the text from Alya to Gabriel, who raised an eyebrow.

“It seems you will get an opportunity to ask.”

**NINO**

When Nino got the text from Alya, he was busy with his music. But, as soon as he saw the text, he became a blur of motion as he started making it look like he was asleep if his parents looked in.

“Wayzz, we can’t let this become a fight. You know what will happen if it ends like that. Shell up!!”

His phone lay on his nightstand, the display still showing the text from Alya:

The hunters have sent a message to the Ladyblog: **All members of Team Miraculous, meet us where we first met. No matter what, this ends tonight.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh oh, what does that mean? Nothing good, that's for sure.
> 
> PLEASE!!!!! LEAVE!!!! COMMENTS!!!!!!


	8. Get Set

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two teams meet. Some of them, though, have secret agendas...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, it's time for the fun chapter!!!! This is where I was (loosely) going this whole time. I still have a couple chapters left, but we are at the beginning of the end.

Marinette met up with Chat Noir and Bluebird on top of the usual building they used for patrol. They were shortly joined by Rena Rouge and Queen Bee. While they waited for Carapace, Marinette started planning the battle ahead.

“Rena, wait on top of one of the buildings and send one of your illusions with us. Bee, keep an eye on Ocelot. She might try something. Chat, you and I will-”

“Wait!” Carapace arrived, almost tripping as he ran to them. “We should try talking to them first!”

Queen Bee scoffed “What makes you think that they will listen? They have it in their heads that we are dangerous and are to be relieved of our miraculous. They won’t stop until then.”

“Yes, but-”

“And what about the fact that they almost seem to be trying to impose martial law? Every crime is stopped with at least a bunch of bruises, often broken bones.” Rena stared Carapace down.

“That is also true. We need to get them to leave, but-”

“They won’t go without a fight, Carapace.”

Marinette looked over to see Chat Noir giving the ground a sour look. He looked up at her, seeing what she would do. 

“Hey, stop that. We need to be together as a team tonight, no matter what happens. Carapace is right, we should at least try to talk to them. A fight would end badly for at least one side. And, if everyone fights their hardest we could end up destroying Paris. Chat, your cataclysm alone is enough to destroy entire buildings. We should try to get rid of that risk.”

Everyone nodded, even Bee. Marinette turned towards the place they were to meet with the Hunters. 

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t be ready. Chat, you and I will be the ones to talk to the Hunters, since their quarrel is with us. Everyone else, you know what to do.”

Carapace raised his hand “Um, what will I be doing?”

“Keep the people safe. They are most probably going to be watching, and they might not be safe.” Chat stepped next to Marinette. “Ready?”

Everyone nodded, and they took off, leaving Bluebird on the rooftop.

**ADRIEN**

They all traversed the distance to the Arc De Triumphe in silence, mentally preparing themselves for the coming battle. Adrien himself was wondering what would happen if this came to a fight. Grizzly would certainly go after him. Adrien had spent the last several months taunting the large man in english, and every time they met, Grizzly fought him as hard as he could. Luckily, Adrien was just a bit faster than the punches.

They approached the arch, and saw a group of five people sitting on top of it. 

Why were the Hunters sitting? It would be harder for them to stand back up for a fight, wouldn’t it?

Adrien landed in a roll, and the other three along with Renas’ illusion landed with him. It was kind of disconcerting for him when he fought near one of the illusions. They made no sound, and they had no scent. 

Oh. That could be a problem. 

Glancing at Ocelot, Adrien saw her narrow her eyes and then start looking around. She noticed that Rena was just an illusion, but she didn’t tell any of her team. Adrien chalked that up to a good thing and focused on the hulking shape next to Alpha. Grizzly was staring him down big time. Adrien smiled at him. The grin he got in return was unsettling. Glancing around, Adrien saw that there was the faintest hint of a smirk on Ocelot and Tails. Something was going on. Adrien turned to face Marinette, but she was already talking to Alpha, trying to get him to see reason. Alpha seemed to be listening to her, nodding, and seeming contemplative. 

That was when all hell broke loose. 

“THEY’RE PLANNING AN AMBUSH!!! RENA ROUGE ISN’T HERE, THIS IS AN ILLUSION!!”

Ocelot threw a stone at the illusion of Rena, which vanished in a puff of smoke. Queen Bee drew her rapier just in time to block a blow from Longclaw, and Ladybug barely managed to dodge the lunge from Alpha. Carapace immediately backflipped off of the arch in order to contain the fight to the immediate area, Tails following close behind. Hopefully, they both had similar objectives. 

Grizzly immediately made his way to Adrien, and Adrien dropped into a defensive stance. He had played this game several times. Grizzly charges, and Adrien redirects him somewhere else. 

He did not plan for Grizzly to jump and do a double kick against his baton, driving it into his chest and launching him over the edge of the arch.

**ALYA**

Alya jumped off the edge of the building. Somehow, Ocelot knew that she wasn’t there, had sparked the fight off of that fact. Hopefully, this could be resolved soon.

As soon as she landed on the ground and come out of her roll, Ocelot was on her. Alya managed to throw her off, but then Tails grabbed her around the waist and tossed her towards the arch. Apparently, she had the same job as Carapace, and was focusing on getting people back into the immediate area, and not fighting. Carapace shield-slammed Ocelot into the same area. 

Alya stood, eyeing Ocelot warily. Chat landed hard next to her, gave her a goofy grin which made her roll her eyes, then bounded back up to the top of the arch. Ladybug made a wide swing around the arch, priming herself for a kick. Then, Ocelot called “Speed Run!!” and almost vanished from sight as she ran supernaturally fast. Alya pulled her flute out and played, shooting a bunch of illusions flying out, then joined them in jumping to various vantage points, all watching Ocelot as she ran from illusion to illusion, breaking them all. 

When Ocelot reached her, Alya grabbed her and dragged her down to the ground. Once the struggling Hunter was held securely, Alya looked up to see the rest of the fight. Carapace was being held by the neck by Tails, his limbs held fast to his sides. Alya was about to go help, but then there was a loud pop, and the sound of Ladybug screaming.

**NINO**

Keeping people by the arch was easy work, Nino decided. He threw Ocelot back into the fray, then he and Tails warily watched each other while the others fought.

Nino was not a very offensive person. His primary weapon was a shield, so he couldn’t attack very well. He watched as Queen Bee and Longclaw fought, both holding the other off effectively. Bee was good with a sword, and Nino had the welts from the practice foil to prove it.

Rena Rouge sent out bunches of illusions, tricking Ocelot, who had started moving extremely fast. Nino tried figuring out where the real Rena was, but he was interrupted by a lasso being thrown over his body. Apparently, Tails had gotten bored of waiting, and had decided to attack while Nino was distracted. He turned, throwing off the rope, but was kicked in the stomach, driving the wind from him. Tails wrapped the lasso around Nino, effectively stopping his ability to move around at all. 

“Did you really think that you could talk your way out of this? You have been a pain in my ass for too long, Turtle. I will tear that bracelet off and give you over to the police.”

Nino was about to retort, but Tails grabbed his throat, stopping any chance at talking. Then, there was a pop from the arch, followed by Ladybug screaming. Ninos’ heart dropped to his feet.

**ADRIEN**

The fight with Grizzly started off bad, and only got worse. He managed to get back onto the arch, but was immediately pummeled to the ground. Before Grizzly could double-fist slam down onto Adriens’ face, Ladybug swung in and kicked him off. Adrien stood, and realized that his baton was down near Rena, who was doing a large illusion.

Ladybug and Alpha both stood in ready stances, but Alpha was shouting something. Grizzly stood up, and Adrien tackled him back down. Grizzly managed to gain leverage and throw Adrien off. Adrien had been thrown around too much to come up with some sort of witty retort, so he settled for a hand-to-hand ready stance. 

Grizzly smirked, and jumped down the side of the arch with surprising speed. Adrien glanced around, looking for where Grizzly would jump out of. 

When Grizzly did finally come back up, all the blood drained from Adriens’ face. 

Grizzly had a gun.

And he was aiming it at Ladybug.

**ALPHA**

Alpha was a patient man. This little excursion was his third run, but it was by far the longest. He felt justified doing this, though. After all, the two leaders were caught committing various crimes around the city.

But that was before he saw something earlier. 

He had been following a group of criminals, waiting for a time when he would be able to take them down discreetly. However, they had approached a group of students who were cleaning in the front of the school. 

The speed and efficiency they took the thugs down was very telling. That was Team Miraculous.

And they were far too young to do many of those crimes, not to mention that they wouldn’t have been out so late at night when they had school unless they really had to.

So, Alpha decided to try to broker a peace. He set up a time to meet up, and sat everyone down for a talk. 

Then, Ocelot revealed their deception, and everyone attacked. Alpha stabbed at Ladybug, but then noticed that Team Miraculous was also caught off guard. Rena jumped down from a building, where she was likely just watching for any tricks. Alpha would have done the same thing in her place. 

Ladybug took a wide swing to kick Grizzly off of Chat Noir, then she stood to face him. Alpha held up his hands. 

“Wait! We can still try to talk! I know that you did not hide Rena Rouge out of malice, but for redundancy!”

Grizzly jumped off of the arch, and Chat Noir stood ready for a surprise attack.

“I know now that you aren’t guilty of those crimes, and you were framed!”

Ladybug narrowed her eyes, suspecting a trick. 

“How do I know-”

Grizzly suddenly appeared again, holding a pistol towards Ladybug. He aimed and pulled the trigger. Just then, a black streak flew in front of Ladybug.

As the loud retort echoed around the buildings, Ladybug screamed as she held the limp form of Chat Noir.

His shoulder was bloody, but Alpha saw that the bullet had entered above the heart, and would have missed any airways. The kid was lucky. 

“Get him to the hospital, NOW!!!”

Alpha watched as the other members of Team Miraculous gathered around, and some of them gathered Chat Noir from Ladybugs’ arms, while Rena Rouge held Ladybug. 

As Alpha turned to confront Grizzly, he saw something he never thought he would. 

A man in a blue suit, obviously based off of a peacock, was holding Grizzly down, pressing a bladed fan to his neck. The man slowly looked up to Alpha, meeting his eyes. 

“Give me a reason not to.”

“That was your son, wasn’t it? You should go to him. Leave this man to me. Believe me, he will get no peace from us.”

The others gathered behind him, glowering at the large man on the ground. No, Grizzly would be having a very bad night. 

Alpha looked back at the blue-suited man “Gabriel, your son will need you when he wakes up. Go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry
> 
> (I'm not)


	9. Repercussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has been shot. That's pretty much the entire chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a lot of chapter titles like this between Game of Chat and Bug and On Your Mark

Marinette burst through the door of the hospital, tears running down her face. Screaming something about a shooting somewhere in Paris and them being too close. She and Nino set Adrien down onto the gourney that some doctors rolled out. They wheeled him away as Gabriel walked up next to Marinette. Another doctor ran past them, glancing at them, then entering where they took Adrien. 

“Marinette.” Gabriel set his hand onto Marinettes’ shoulder “This wasn’t your fault. Grizzly wasn’t supposed to bring a gun. It goes against their code. There’s a reason Miraculous disputes are only ever handled with the weapons provided by the Miraculous. That way, any damage done can be magically reversed, like your Miraculous Cleanse. He was not supposed to bring a gun.”

Marinette wiped her eyes, looking down. She had no doubt that he was ranting because he had his own guilt, but his words did nothing to ease her own sense of guilt. 

While they waited, Marinettes’ parents walked into the hospital, sitting next to Marinette, who immediately curled up into them. 

The battle had been going so well until Grizzly brought up the gun. Alpha seemed to be listening to her. In fact, Marinette was sure that Alpha truly wanted a peaceful end to the fight, but for some reason nobody else seemed to get that memo. 

But even then, everyone had been doing good. Alya did good at taking down Ocelot, Nino had been in a small bit of trouble, but Alya would have helped him with that. Chloe held her own against Longclaw, which was an accomplishment by itself. Hell, Adrien had Grizzly on the ropes until he pulled the gun. 

Remembering that moment, Marinette screwed her eyes shut, nearly bursting into tears again. 

She needed a moment to think…

Some time later, the doctor who ran after the rest walked out of the room, going towards them, seeking out Gabriel.

“Sir. Your son will be just fine. The bullet didn’t hit anything vital, and was easily removed. For now, I’d like to ask a few questions. The young lady should come too.” He gestured to Marinette. He had an English accent that was very familiar to her. 

They followed him into a side room, and he slumped into a chair “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Gabriel, I assume that you can cover things on your end?”

“They’re already taken care of.”

“Good. Now, a formal introduction.” He held up his hand, showing off a ring that Marinette had previously not noticed. It was similar to Adriens’ ring, but it was in the shape of a wolf. “Doctor Richardson, also known as Alpha, at your service.”

Marinette looked up, her eyes immediately narrowing. She rose, intending on wringing his neck, but Gabriel pushed her back down, perhaps with a bit more force than was necessary. 

“Alpha. You have done your research to have figured us out so easily.”

Doctor Richardson shook his head “I figured them out earlier today, actually. They got in a fight outside their school, and fought with what was obviously trained skills. The way they used their weapons made it easy to figure it out. Of course, it was hard not to figure out Adrien Agreste, his face is everywhere in the city.”

Gabriel nodded “And based off of my reaction, you guessed who I was?”

Doctor Richardson nodded as well. Marinette scowled instead “What did you do with Grizzly?”

Reaching into his pocket, Doctor Richardson held up a pin that was shaped like a bear paw. It was colored, like it was active. Since it was not attached to anyone, Marinette could only assume that it meant it was dormant, and Grizzly wouldn’t be wearing it anymore.

“He has been taken care of. As well as the other two who decided to attack with no provocation.” He pulled out a couple more jewels “Miraculous Hunters are not ones for rash decisions. I think the time it took to finally face you took its’ toll. Good job. Longclaw has them in custody, ready to be taken back to their respective countries. Grizzly will be sent to American jail for assaulting a minor.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, nodding with a fierce glee. Marinette felt a perverse satisfaction at that.

“I will make a report about you five being too close to a gunfight, and Adrien being caught in the crossfire. I will also fabricate a report about Chat Noir being taken care of in full costume, so you won’t have to worry about people figuring it out based on the similarity of the wounds.”

Marinette and Gabriel both thanked him, and they all left the room. Although they both knew that Doctor Richardson didn’t bear them any ill will, they still treated him coldly, and he didn’t seem to have an issue with it.

Alya leaned over, whispering to Marinette “What did Alpha have to say to you?”

Marinette looked back in shock “How did you know?”

“I found an old picture of him, and he was wearing a white coat, so I figured that he was either a doctor or scientist. When he walked in with his English accent and pulled you two aside, I placed the final pieces.”

Marinette nodded. Alya always was very astute.

Nino and Chloe were both standing against the wall, and to Marinettes’ surprise, Nino wrapped Chloe in a hug, and she started crying. 

Alya reached over and squeezed Marinettes hand, and Marinette gripped back, glad for the companionship. Gabriel and Tom were talking, and Sabine was softly running her hands through Marinettes’ hair.

They remained there in silence until another doctor came out and said that he was stable and sleeping. Only close family was allowed in. As Gabriel walked towards the room, Nathalie ran in, her face inscrutable, but Marinette noticed that her makeup seemed freshly applied, even though it was late at night. 

She waited behind for Gabriel to walk back outside, and they sat near each other. Looking up at Marinette, he nodded. Marinette immediately felt a wave of relief at the action. 

Adrien was going to be fine.

**CHLOE**

Chloe was shaking. She knew that Adrien was going to be alright, but she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t help it. She had just watched her best friend of several years get shot and fall unconscious, only to be taken away by strangers.

Nino was doing his best to help, and Chloe appreciated it, but it couldn’t help entirely. But now, she had something she had to do. After the doctor said that Adrien was going to be OK, Chloe left the hospital, heading home. 

She transformed, went up to her room, and detransformed, allowing herself a small freakout, pretending to have only just received the news about Adrien. Her father came in, his face showing alarm at her distress. 

“Chloe, my dear, what happened?”

“Adrien is in the hospital! He was shot! Daddy, you must stop hunting Team Miraculous, so they can stop thugs like this!!”

Surprisingly, her father hesitated instead of immediately granting her wish. 

“Well, I’m sorry this didn’t happen sooner. One of the members of that other team of heroes is here, telling me that Team Miraculous isn’t actually a threat after all.”

Chloe looked up to see Longclaw standing in her doorway, a small red line on her face where she had managed to score a hit. 

“Miss Bourgeois, I am terribly sorry for what happened to your friend.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes slightly, and Longclaw gave her a small nod, her face in a slight grimace. She reached up and touched her wound, and nodded appreciatively. 

“Longclaw, this is my daughter, Chloe. Chloe, this is the right hand man of that other team.”

“Ah, yes. Well met, Chloe.”

Chloes’ father beamed with pride “She is practically the princess of Paris. Everyone loves her!”

Longclaw stared at Chloe for a second before responding, a small smile on her face “From what I’ve heard, she is more of a queen. Shall we, Mayor Bourgeois?”

Longclaw winked at the shellshocked Chloe as she followed the Mayor out the door. As she left the door, she looked back, all hints of mirth gone, she mouthed “I’m sorry” and was gone.

**NINO**

After Chloe left, Alya followed suit, escorted by Marinettes’ father, at the command of her mother. Marinette was still practically catatonic, curled into her mothers’ side. Gabriel and Nathalie were sitting close, muttering to each other.

Finally, Nino could drop the tough facade he kept up. He slid down the wall, wrapping his arms around his knees. 

He had felt so invincible when he first got the bracelet. Even facing down Hawkmoth didn’t seem so scary. 

But seeing Adrien shot, seeing his white face as he was carted away, that was nerve wracking. 

Nino started crying.

He stayed there for a while, letting his feelings out. Soon, he became aware that someone was next to him. He looked over to see Marinette sitting next to him, asleep. She had sat down next to him, giving him comfort while he wept. 

With a smile, Nino followed her example, and fell asleep.

**ADRIEN**

Adrien woke up, still groggy, and found that he couldn’t move his arm. Looking down, he saw that his arm was completely immobilized. Looking around, he found that he was in a bright white room, sunlight streaming through a window.

He started trying to sit up, but as he struggled, the door opened, revealing a man in a hospital gown. 

Ah, right. He had been shot by Grizzly. Looking down, Adrien saw bandages wrapped around his shoulder, hiding the wound from sight. 

“Ah, Monsieur Agreste, you’re up.” The doctor checked a few of the monitors around his bed, seeming satisfied “I’ll let the anesthesia wear off a bit, and I’ll let your father in. If you feel up to it, I can let in a few of your friends. They haven’t left the hospital yet.” He had a pronounced English accent that sounded familiar to Adrien.

Adrien nodded, his throat dry. The doctor grabbed a cup from the nightstand, and Adrien grabbed it, drinking greedily. His throat feeling better, Adrien managed to croak out: “How long has it been?”

“Just overnight. You seem to be healing rather quickly from the wound.”

Adrien nodded, and the doctor left. 

Several minutes later, his father walked in, looking so composed that Adrien knew it was fake. He thanked the doctor, a strange look in his eyes as he watched the door close. 

“Adrien. I… Are you ok?”

Adrien had to pause for a second to let that sentence sink in. Did his father just… stammer? Even a bit? Wow, this bullet wound was already worth it.

“Yes. Apparently, I am healing fast. I suspect that you have something to do with that, Plagg.”

A black streak appeared, and Plagg stared Adrien in the eyes.

“Yes, I am. And I only have to do that because you were dumb enough to get shot. I had better get a lot of extra cheese for this.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Of course you’re getting extra cheese, Plagg.”

The door opened, and the doctor walked back in. Adrien had a panic attack as Plagg remained where he was. 

“Ah, I was wondering when he would appear. I thought it would be right when you woke up.”

Plagg whirled around and shot towards the doctor, who flinched back. “You. Give me a reason not to cataclysm you into oblivion and hope that Tikki can undo it.”

“I was unaware that Grizzly even had a gun, let alone he would try to shoot Ladybug.”

All of the pieces suddenly dropped into place. The English accent, the knowledge of kwamis, apparent knowledge of the inner workings of the Hunters.

“Alpha. Nice to officially meet you.”

“Chat Noir.”

“So, did we lose? Are we now in custody?”

Alpha shook his head. “No, the only one in custody is Grizzly. As far as anyone else is aware, he is the thug that shot you. Across town from where the fight was. You and your friends better take more care until Team Miraculous can take care of the rise in crime. Speaking of...”

Two shapes ran into the room, out of breath.

“Sorry Doctor Richardson, Nino wanted to get a quick snack from the vending machine.”

“Hey, he isn’t going anywhere. Although, I will admit that avoiding the awkward interactions between Adrien and his dad was also part of the plan.”

Marinette and Nino walked up to Adrien. Nino kept saying how glad he was that Adrien was awake and well, while Marinette just held his right hand. 

Alpha turned on the news, saying: “You might want to watch this.”

From the TV came Alyas’ voice, and an image of Mayor Bourgeois standing on a podium, Chloe behind him. 

“I can’t believe that you’re letting me say this live- oh, we’re on? What’s up, peeps, Alya here with live footage from an impromptu press conference by Mayor Bourgeois.”

Alya stood awkwardly, dressed nicely, her parents visible in the background. The Mayor was making an announcement about Team Miraculous.

“I have received word that the evidence against Ladybug and Chat Noir was faked by none other than Hawkmoth himself. So, effective immediately, Team Miraculous is to get full pardons from any crimes they have been accused of.”

“There you have it, Paris. Team Miraculous is here to stay. And, Chat Noir, we all wish you a speedy recovery.”

Adrien felt his heart soar. They were back. Things were going to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have finished the penultimate chapter. After this, this universe will be over. 
> 
> So, would y'all like the super cheesy, cliche ending, or nah?


	10. The Final End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hunters are gone, and Adrien has recovered. Several months later, everyone must come to terms with the new world with vigilante heroes, and with the fact that there is really no good threats against them. Some people take it better than others...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND WE HAVE FINISHED!!! THE FINAL CHAPTER FOR THIS STORY, AND THE OFFICIAL ENDING FOR THIS MIRACULOUS UNIVERSE I HAVE WRITTEN!!!!!!
> 
> I really hope you like it :)

Adrien swung his arm around in its’ socket, admiring Plaggs’ work. Apparently, his shoulder should never have worked right again, but thanks to Plagg it worked splendidly. Ladybug shifted next to him, watching the same group of thugs. They had gotten smarter, and had firearms of their own. 

After the recovery of Chat Noir, criminals had taken a break from their usual pursuits. But after five months, they were coming back with a vengeance. There were still the criminals who didn’t arm themselves in some way or another, and those were treated much nicer than these ones were going to be. 

Adrien whistled, drawing the attention of several of the guards standing outside the store. They swore, raising their guns. Adrien dropped down onto the street, leaning on his baton. He gave them a smirk and a wink. 

Quick as a flash, a red and black streak shot in front of them, and Ladybug skid to a stop, holding their guns. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did these belong to you?” She raised an eyebrow “That’s interesting, the serial numbers have been rubbed off. Trying to hide, are we?”

The men stopped moving, looking at each other, before they started running. They made it halfway down the street before another streak, this one yellow and black, knocked them all down. They were left twitching, and Queen Bee sheathed her sparking sword. 

“Hey, guys. You gonna stand there staring all night, or are you going to stop this robbery?”

Adrien raised his hand “Hey, Bee. Don’t worry, I’m all over it.”

He turned to face the store, and found a man running out, his pistol raised, screaming “LET’S SEE IF I CAN MAKE CHAT NOIR BLEED AGAIN!!”

Adrien smiled as the man pulled the trigger. The bullet punched against his chest, bouncing right off. Plagg had felt absolutely devastated by what happened to Adrien, and thought it was his fault. So, he had gone through extreme pains to protect Adrien from having to go through it again. To be fair, Adrien hadn’t known that Tikki had already done that for Marinette after what had happened during a previous akuma attack had ended up with Ladybug being shot. 

But, the bottom line was that Adrien was now immune to bullets. Plagg would not let them pass through the suit, and even managed to protect his face. However, Adrien didn’t want to get shot too many times. Plagg couldn’t stop the impact of the bullet, so they all left bruises. In fact, this one was right on the collarbone. 

A green body slammed into the man from behind, and the illusion of a dark shop puffed into smoke. What remained was a group of men standing in the brightly lit shop, with Rena Rouge standing in the middle. Carapace straightened up, looking into the shop.

“You better hurry up. Rena is gonna have them all taken care of by the time you all stop staring at each other.”

Adrien shot his friend a look, then extended his baton into the shop, slamming the end into the wall. Three men who had started running towards Rena ran right into it, but the other two ducked underneath it, only to trip on the yo-yo string stretched across the floor that Ladybug had thrown. Rena knocked them both out, then walked out of the store. 

“Well, what was the point of a dramatic reveal that they didn’t even disable the stores’ electricity if you were just going to knock them all out?”

Carapace pointed “You got two of them yourself, Rouge.”

“True. You only got one, Pace.”

“He was an important one, though.”

“Now you’re just being jealous.”

Queen Bee crossed her arms “Come on, don’t be so lovey-dovey. Some of us aren’t in relationships with other superheroes.”

A white flash lit up the night, followed by a chorus of “Queen Bee, is it true that you are in a relationship with a non-miraulous holder?”

“Queen Bee, does this person know who you really are?”

“Do the other members of Team Miraculous know that you are in a relationship with someone who isn’t superpowered?”

Queen Bee looked confused at the last one. “Obviously?”

Chat Noir walked up next to her “You lot are getting faster. But we are still faster than you.”

He grabbed Queen Bee around the waist and extended his baton, throwing them both up to the top of a building, leaving an empty street behind.

“You don’t usually react like that to the press, Chlo.”

“They have no business in my relationship status.”

Adrien held her by the shoulders “I’m sorry about Nath, but he made his choice not to accept you for who you are. Anyways, you have Kim now. He’s a much better fit for you.”

“I know. He’s pretty great, isn’t he?”

Adrien hugged her, looking over to the next building. The other three heroes looked at them, wondering what they were doing. Adrien waved, and they all started off to their respective homes.

**CHLOE**

Chloe ended up going to Marinettes’ house again. She was spending less and less time at the Grand Paris Hotel, ever since she decided to drop a large bomb on her father shortly after the events that cleared the names of Team Miraculous.

She had told her father that she was bisexual, and that combined with the stress put on him from the paparazzi for how he handled the arrival of the Hunters, made him react poorly to the news. During the time since, he had never gotten any better. 

So, she stayed with Marinette several nights of the week. She just stayed on a couch in the living room, and Marinette slept on the other couch. Marinette had been an anchor for Chloe for the last couple of months. Marinette had been there for Chloe in a way nobody has ever been there before. 

It did help that the two of them sometimes looked at guys and girls together. 

Chloe kept her asexuality to herself, though. She had told Kim, and he took it rather well. But, outside of the team, nobody else knew. It added more tension between Chloe and her father again, since he assumed that Chloe and Marinette were… involved. But Chloe didn’t really care very much anymore. If her father wasn’t going to accept one aspect of her, then the other aspect would probably be too much. 

Nevertheless, Chloe had never been happier. She had more friends than she knew what to do with. Nearly the entire class was a lot warmer to her. Nathanael still just sat in the back, but when he wasn’t in class, he hung out with another boy every once in a while. Chloe thought his name was Marc? Ah, well. Chloe wished him luck. 

If Chloe could find happiness, then everyone else had a shot, too.

**NINO – TEN YEARS LATER**

“Al, wait up!”

Alya stopped walking for a second, waiting for Nino to catch up. Nino had grown a decent beard in the last couple years. Somehow, when he transformed into Carapace, the facial hair vanished. But Alya liked the facial hair better. Nino did too.

“Alya, where you going in such a hurry? You know that I don’t walk that fast when hauling all of this gear by myself!”

“You know that I would help you, but I have my own… inhibitions.” She looked pointedly down at her stomach. 

Nino set his bags down and wrapped his arms around Alya. “Now I have to hold you close. I don’t want to let you go.”

“Stop being so dramatic. You’ve already put something around me to keep me around.”

Nino pulled back, twisting the ring around his finger “Yeah, I know. But it’s better when I do it myself. But don’t worry, I won’t let either of you down.”

Alya rolled her eyes. Then, she straightened up, looking over Ninos’ shoulder. Turning, Nino saw Chloe and Alix walking over, both of them holding hands. Kim and Chloe didn’t work out either, but they were still good friends. 

They were helping Tom and Sabine carry some more boxes over, and Alya almost started heading over, but Nino grabbed her arm. “Hold up there, Foxy. You are still creating life, take it easy.”

Alya looked back at Nino, but a small voice said “He’s right, Alya. You should take it easy today.”

“You’re right, Trixx. I’ll see if Marinette needs any help inside.”

Nino waved at the others and picked his bags up again. They all went inside, splitting up. Nino went to a large room filled with tables and chairs, and started setting up the sound equipment inside his bags. Alya went into a side room to help Marinette, and the others all started going to various other places around the room, setting up a nice display. Gabriel walked in, wearing a fashionable suit, followed by Nathalie. They started helping as well, but showed a lack of skill. They had wanted to hire people to set this all up, but Marinette’s parents had decided to do it all themselves. 

Nino finished setting up, and was testing the sound when he saw Alya running back and forth between the room where Marinette was getting ready and the room where Adrien was getting ready. 

How much getting ready do two people need? They just needed to freshen up to the point they were at earlier in the day. What were they up to?

Nino picked up the microphone, apologizing for the following noise. He had created a song designed to test the capabilities of the sound system being used. A cacophony of noise exploded from the speakers. It started off with low beats, and evolved into screechingly high notes. His speakers handled it spectacularly. 

Alya ran into the room again and whispered into Gabriels’ ear. He nodded and followed her into Adriens’ room. 

Nino played some music to satisfy the guests who trickled into the church. They sat and talked, a few walking up to Nino to request some songs, and to talk to Tom and Sabine to offer congratulations. 

Alya sent Nino at text saying that they were ready. Nino started the playlist that Marinette had requested for them to walk in with. Alya and Gabriel had walked in and sat down to watch. Adrien walked in and Nino was made even more confused. 

Adrien was wearing the same tux he wore that morning. Well, no, it wasn’t the same. It seemed to be a bit bulkier than normal.

Marinette walked in, looked absolutely gorgeous in a white dress. This dress was way different than what she wore this morning. It seemed to be bulky as well. They walked in while everyone applauded. They put on a show, kissing each other. They reached over to each others’ backs, and pulled on a tassle they had. 

Their clothes suddenly shifted, parts of them folding out and revealing more than originally thought. 

Adrien was suddenly in a green long-tailed tuxedo, lined with neon green. Marinette stood back up, her dress transformed into a gown accentuated with red and black. It was an impressive change, and Nino could see why it took a while to get ready. 

The night passed quickly. Adrien and Marinette got a lot of gifts and even more congratulations. At the end of the night, they drove off to their honeymoon. Chloe walked up to him, a smile on her face. 

“This was a nice night. I guess that Alix and I are next, huh?”

Nino smiled “Yeah. I’m happy for them. Although, I was wondering if they were ever going to get married. I mean, they were clearly meant for each other.”

“Yeah. Although, you and Alya were married as soon as you were both done with school.”

“Wh- well- it wasn’t as soon as we were done...”

“Uh huh. Yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”

“But you and Alix, though? You thinking of popping the question soon?”

Chloe blushed, but nodded. Nino had to suppress his squeel of delight, looking over at Alix. She had gotten past her skater phase from school, but she was never really particularly “Girly”. Even now, she was wearing a suit as opposed to a dress.

“I’m happy for you. I’ll DJ for you as well, but it will cost you a huge amount.”

Chloe furrowed her brow “Didn’t you do this for free?”

“No. Gabriel offered me several very nice suits for me to wear while DJ-ing.”

“I’m not sure that’s a word, Nino.”

“You think? It really should be.” Nino smiled at Chloe. “I think that I would probably charge you a stay in a deluxe suite in the Grand Paris for Alya and I. After the baby, of course.”

Chloe laughed a mirthless laugh “Let’s see if my father will talk to me, first.”

Nino shook his head “He really needs to pull his head out of his ass.”

They chatted for a few more minutes, but soon, Nino had to announce that the party was over. He took down the sound equipment and walked with Alya back to the car. They went back to their penthouse, and went to bed. 

Nino sat by Alya under the covers, fiddling with his bracelet. “Hey, Al? You remember how this whole miraculous thing started?”

“What, with a terrorist attacking Paris when we were all 15? Yeah, I do.”

“Those seem like they were a lifetime ago. I mean, look at us now. Marinette and Adrien just got married.”

“Ah, yes. Adrienette has officially sailed.”

“Chloe is publicly out on both accounts, and even though her father isn’t super supportive-”

“At all, you mean.”

“Yes. But everyone else is. She even plans on marrying Alix.”

Alya looked over at him “You’re only just now noticing?”

Nino raised his hands “Hey, I’m not super great at seeing these things.”

“We are also having a baby soon.”

“Yes. I’m glad that the terrorist attacked Paris and that the two 15 year old heroes needed help. Otherwise, things might not have turned out this way.”

Alya cuddled up to him. “Yes. I’m glad to have my turtle husband.”

Nino hugged her back, then turned over to turn off the light. 

Truly, their lives had turned out for the better. 

One could even say that it turned out

MIRACULOUSLY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's super cliche, but I didn't want to end it on a cliffhanger. I wanted to give Adrien and Marinette more to do here, but I decided that I had a few more stories to tell, and I had done enough with those two already. So, this was the result. I truly hope you enjoyed the story, and that you stay tuned for the possible new story I might post. (let me know if you would be interested)
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!!!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!!!
> 
> Massive shoutout to the two people who are suffering through my erratic writing style: [Choleson](http://choleson.tumblr.com/) and [Kaycee003](https://kaycee003.tumblr.com)  
> (hyperlinks lead to their tumblr pages. They are fantastic people, and you should check out their content!!)
> 
> And, as always, here is my narcissistic touch with a link to [my own tumblr](https://allmyfandomthings.tumblr.com/).
> 
> I hope you are enjoying the story, and I look forward to updating you soon!!!!


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